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I had a long thought about why we suffer. There are a few contributors — ourselves (our mindsets and our actions), other people’s choices, the laws of nature, and the general nonsense that is life. Part of me fully understands that suffering is natural and we’ll all experience it. I am sympathetic towards those who suffer, but I also genuinely believe that we cause a lot of our own suffering.
It’s a hard pill to swallow, but I see it everywhere. I see this willingness to suffer rather than to work through something. I see people who choose to suffer, to go through pain, rather than spend some more time and work hard to improve things as much as they can. I see it in myself all the time, so I’m not knocking anyone for doing it. I just know that every time, no matter what, it’s worth it to work through something.
So, what is pain? And, why do we choose to suffer? And, why is it such a problem that so many people would rather suffer? Let’s talk about it.
Pain is an interesting topic for me. I think about physical pain a lot because it has been a part of my life in many ways. As a clinician, I’ve come to understand that pain does not necessarily equate to tissue damage. However, it does not mean that the pain doesn’t exist! There are multiple facets to pain, one of which includes understanding the influence of the brain on pain. Which, in turn, relates to our emotions. Our emotions tell us so much, they are such a big reason people do things, think things, believe things, feel things.
