Suffering

Today I scan the news for a hint of something good, something upbeat, something slightly less than depressing. What I find is death and destruction, Swine flu outbreak, cutting of Pontiac and 21,000 jobs, and more suicide. I close the page. I want to escape the idea that we are entrenched in suffering or that we cannot escape it. I decide to walk.

As I walk, I realize a few points of interest. Suffering is a choice. Peace and happiness are also choices. Life as we know it and understand it, is also a choice. If there is any part of this which is debatable, I would like to hear it.

A guy killed his kids, wife and himself, after he "reportedly" mismanaged somewhere upwards of 20 million dollars that belonged to others. How does one get that deeply entrenched in suffering? Believe me, I have no problems with understanding suicide. I do believe that is an escape from suffering of the grandest scale. But how does one's picture of life get so torqued that he must murder his family before taking his life? Amazing.

I hear that America is now "watching" the Swine flu. And the restructuring of the major auto makers. And the governmental money. And the banks.  So are we to believe that the media simply wants us informed? Or do they want to invoke more fear? 

Through fear we suffer. When we fear we have no control, when we fear for our jobs, when we fear for our loss of status, money, power, we create suffering within us. It is there. It is tangible, it is palpable and it is threatening us to our very cores. But what can we do? What must we do to escape it?

And that's the catch.

We, as a society, feel we can do little to escape the suffering. But we can.

We can choose peace over chaos, in the middle of chaos and despite the chaos. All it takes is a bit of discipline. We can choose to be happy, joyful, grateful, even in the face of adversity. We choose grace and when we do this, we create the space for more grace to flood in. When we choose fear, suffering, and other limiting negative options, we invite more of the same.

Can we escape suffering? Like can we live in a way that will totally and completely leave no room for suffering? No. Nor should we desire it. Suffering is a way to help us to grow. Suffering can come upon us on a dark night without a notice, yet it can leave in the same way. We can see it, recognize it for what it is, and invite it inside for a spell. We can then turn to it, get to know it, choose to befriend it, then watch it soften as we pour love upon it. Yes, we can choose to love our suffering because it has come to deliver a message.

Today I challenge you to get to know your suffering, your pain, and your deep fears.