dilloduck
Diamond Member
The one guarantee in life we have besides death is the fact that we will suffer. While it is quite natural for humans to prefer not to suffer, the belief that one can totally avoid it will only insure you of more.
Did Terri wish do die if placed in the situatuion that she was to avoid personal suffering or was she trying to prevent the suffering of others who care for her? We will never know the answer to the amount of suffering she endured but her long delayed wish certainly caused much suffering for others.
The stubborn insistance to have pain free existence actually causes more suffereing than I anything I can think of. The great religions often speak of enduring suffering and tribulations and acknowledge that it is a natural condition of life. They don't suggest that we avoid it. They suggest that we pray or meditate for the strength to endure it.
Immediate gratification may be the antithesis to accepting personal suffering and this selfish desire can create nothing other than pain. It is through maturing and experiencing deprivation for a few minutes that we learn that we have the strengths to live through these uncomfortable times.
Upon discovering these strengths we develop confidence that we may be able to overcome the next obstacle life presents us too.
The confidence in oneselves' ability to do without and ones' ability to seek more strength through prayer or meditation serves to futher assure us that we can overcome anything if we are honest and humble enough. Suffering is the best thing I can think of as a method gaining the humility we need to listen to others for the answers we need. Suffering can be an excellant motivator but only if we are willing to experience it.
A common answer is " But I've suffered enough already" . Unfortunately we are not in total control of suffering in the world or our personal lives and one can either stubbornly refuse to learn more or accept that suffering and the resolution of suffering is a wheel from which there is no escape.
Did Terri wish do die if placed in the situatuion that she was to avoid personal suffering or was she trying to prevent the suffering of others who care for her? We will never know the answer to the amount of suffering she endured but her long delayed wish certainly caused much suffering for others.
The stubborn insistance to have pain free existence actually causes more suffereing than I anything I can think of. The great religions often speak of enduring suffering and tribulations and acknowledge that it is a natural condition of life. They don't suggest that we avoid it. They suggest that we pray or meditate for the strength to endure it.
Immediate gratification may be the antithesis to accepting personal suffering and this selfish desire can create nothing other than pain. It is through maturing and experiencing deprivation for a few minutes that we learn that we have the strengths to live through these uncomfortable times.
Upon discovering these strengths we develop confidence that we may be able to overcome the next obstacle life presents us too.
The confidence in oneselves' ability to do without and ones' ability to seek more strength through prayer or meditation serves to futher assure us that we can overcome anything if we are honest and humble enough. Suffering is the best thing I can think of as a method gaining the humility we need to listen to others for the answers we need. Suffering can be an excellant motivator but only if we are willing to experience it.
A common answer is " But I've suffered enough already" . Unfortunately we are not in total control of suffering in the world or our personal lives and one can either stubbornly refuse to learn more or accept that suffering and the resolution of suffering is a wheel from which there is no escape.
