BY SOFO ARCHON
“One does not become enlightened by imagining figures of light, but by making the darkness conscious.” ~Carl Jung
Most people waste their entire lives distracting themselves from their own pain. They compulsively surf the Internet, watch TV, buy products, consume pills, alcohol and other drugs… they do all sorts of things, no matter how silly or harmful, to avoid facing their pain. Yet their whole way of living is leading them to exactly what they’re trying to avoid.
What they don’t realize is that pain has so much to teach us. You see, pain is there for a very important reason: to show us that there is something wrong with our lives, as well as to urge us to take action in order to get rid of it. Therefore, pain isn’t bad, contrary to what most people believe. In fact, pain is perhaps our best teacher. So, wouldn’t it be much better if we learned from it, rather than trying to run away from it?
In addition, pain means having problems, and to solve those problems you need to become more intelligent. That’s why, if you study the history of humankind, you will find that some of the greatest minds to have walked on Earth were very sensitive to pain. Pain pushed those individuals to doubt what they knew, raise new questions and discover better answers. Pain pushed them to see life from an entirely different perspective.
So, don’t be afraid of pain, my friends. Rather, embrace pain and pay close attention to it. This, however, doesn’t mean that you should desire pain in your life. It just means that when you experience pain, be present with it, instead of avoiding it. This way, you can let pain show you what it has to show you, and take the right action in order to deal with it.
“Nature shows that with the growth of intelligence comes increased capacity for pain, and it is only with the highest degree of intelligence that suffering reaches its supreme point.” ~Arthur Schopenhauer