Choosing Not to Suffer Through Pain

By Lori Lines

Suffering is an internal and subjective experience, and the external circumstances mean very little in producing it.  My life has been filled with privileges and blessings.  Also, I have never suffered from any acute, life-threatening traumas that others have, and still endure all over the world.  So I consider myself extremely blessed and suffering is a gift within a larger gift: my life.  That being said, I've felt physical pain and, for much of my life, emotional pain.   So, whenever it appears, I am reminded of the need for acceptance.  It provides a great metaphor, actually.  The more I resist the pain the more stress I cause, and the more pain I create for myself.  When at last I accept and concede to it, without resistance or the need to fix it, I feel the pain fade away and I relax.  It is literally effortless (as effort is the only thing to avoid). 

The power is in the patient, loving awareness which is focused and intensified just like what a magnifying lens will do with sunlight (only I'm burning through my pain, not ants.)

This is truly how it's been with suffering for me.

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© Lori Lines 2016
  

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