One of the four Noble Truths, a guide for living a Buddhist lifestyle, explains that pain is inevitable and suffering is optional. This idea intrigues me more and more.
For most of my younger years and especially while raising a family, I held the idea that I was in control of my life. I was a good manager, organized, responsible and all of these qualities gave me the deep impression that I somehow could control the outcome of events that came my way. I always did survive those events though not without a lot of suffering because I held fast to an idea of how things were supposed to go. This is what the Buddhists call “attachment”.
When we can let go of wanting things to be other than they are, we can reduce and sometimes even eliminate the suffering. This is very difficult to do, in my opinion. I still seek answers to “why” things happen as they do. I still find myself wanting things to be other than they are. Yet my lesson is to be present to all that is already. Finding gratitude in the little things even when that can feel challenging. What I know for sure, despite deep pain, is that there is goodness in life.
