Many people feel pain, loss and sorrow—but do you let it define who you are? Or avoid it like the plague so you don't have to deal with the real issue at hand? Instead of medicating your pain or wallowing in it, find out why it's actually normal to experience the hard times.
Everyone wants a good life; no one wants to suffer. How great it would be if things went just the way you want them to, but you know that doesn't happen. Has anyone lived a whole life without some measure of loss, grief, pain or hardship? These states are intrinsic with being human.

There is a story of a woman who came to the Buddha in tears as her only son died. She begs him to bring her son back to life; the pain of his death is too much for her to bear. Finally, the Buddha agrees. He says he will bring the boy back to life, but only if the woman can get him a single mustard seed from a house where no one has ever died. The distraught woman rushes off and proceeds to go from door to door trying to find a home that has never experienced a death. Of course, she cannot find a single place.

The point here is that suffering is a normal part of being human. Life is also filled with beauty, joy, a mother holding her baby, daffodils in the spring, dew on a spider's web and the depth of intimate love. You hang out with happiness as much as you can, but getting to know suffering is not what you normally do.

Do you deny or indulge in your suffering?

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