The Cause of Suffering

A teacher of mine once said, Pain is inevitable. Suffering is optional.

This statement has always intrigued me.

Is it really true for us?

In Conversations with God, Neale Donald Walsch (or God) wrote that only two things keep us in suffering.

1 – Our judgements keep us from joy

2 – Our expectations make us unhappy

When I consider suffering from such a simple statement, there is an elegance to it’s truth.

We rob ourselves of joy when we place judgements on the way things should be.

We rob ourselves of happiness when we can’t accept the current world because it does not live up to our expectations of the way it should be.

Suffering is simply the difference between the world we are living in and the way we think it should be.

Does this make suffering easier?

No, I don’t think so.

But it does highlight a very important point.

If we change the way we look at the event, our suffering will change.

We then, are ultimately the controlling factors of our own emotional well being.

We are at Cause.

What do you think? Share your thoughts below.

Until next time.

Chris