The Benefit of Suffering

We have gone to great lengths to remove all discomfort from our lives.  Even as you read, you are most likely to be in a climate-controlled environment with the ability to remove discomfort by simply adjusting the temperature of your space. Most of us sleep in soft beds under stable roofs protecting us from the elements of nature.  We have solved the discomfort of silence and boredom with televisions, phones, social media, and there is a screen at the gas station pump, so my idleness is not observed, felt, or wasted.  When hungry, a quick trip through the drive-through or to Family Fare solves this basic need without much thought or effort.  It would stand to reason that primitive parts of our brain can experience atrophy and even crave activity dedicated to survival. 

What if this perpetual state of comfort is robbing us of the ability to develop the muscles to endure, to push through hard things when they come?  Depriving us of building character assets such as creativity, ingenuity, perseverance, resilience, courage, and confidence.  What if our avoidance and numbing behaviors keep us from experiencing suffering in life, creating more problems than they solve?  What if the struggle of suffering actually brings us peace.

The benefit of suffering however is counterintuitive and sounds like a conflict in terms.  I believe, however, that if we can embrace the struggles in our lives, challenge ourselves, commit to overcome obstacles to growth, press into the tensions in our relationships, and embrace difficulty rather than trying to get rid of it, we will find peace.  Peace through the knowledge that we can do hard things.  Peace through the strength built having the difficult conversation and still connecting with our partner.  Peace through the confidence built when I overcome joblessness and despair.  Peace through the comfort I can provide a loved one because I persevered through loss being comforted myself. 

I encourage you to look at suffering and struggle in a new way.  Not as something to get rid of, but rather to embrace.  It will be part of our story, but it does not have to define who we are.  We can use it as a tool to build character and ultimately who we want to become.