Tag: suffering

Meaningful pain

Posted on by philipdodson

Despite what the latest Instagram post or the happy-clappy gurus on Facebook chant every morning, we can not always be happy, shit happens and always will.

The thing is without meaningful pain we can not and will not suffer enough to learn lessons and to be determined to move forward.

Suffering without meaning equals despair and that can bit be sustained by anyone, but if you’ve read Frankl’s “man search for meaning” you’ll know he survived unimaginable pain and suffering because he had a purpose. The greater the meaning, the lower or even no despair. Chip Conley’s “Emotional Equation” book explains it so well, definitely worth a read.

Happiness is peddled as something we need to strive for as it makes money and often happiness is linked to material consumption, working harder, achieving grades etc.

Of course, happiness is good, but so is pain too, well meaningful pain.

Pain is a guide

Posted on by philipdodson

Emotional pain and suffering can be a guide, if you choose to use it, to lead us to our purpose.

What we suffered in the past can be used now to ensure the pattern or circumstances that lead to our suffering is not repeated in our lives going forward and we can help others to avoid it too.

Having a purpose is the most important thing in life, without it we remain unfulfilled. Finding our purpose is a challenge, many never find it. Often, we have been conditioned to seek it in what we love to do, however, in more powerful ways it lies in what we have suffered.

Taking the past and rewriting it in our own minds with a positive purpose for now, and shaping our future, allows us to let go, move on and achieve something that we can be fulfilled with.