I am wanting to write about and discuss the topic of spirituality and I had posed the question earlier of why do you think we suffer. It seems I have been grappling with this question for some time now. I wrote to myself several years ago about this very topic...seemingly answering this question I pose today. Was I naive? Simplistic? Perhaps so but my feelings today are pretty much the same. I wrote this way before I ever knew I would be diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis so...it is quite interesting to read now.
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Things happen for a reason
Do you believe this to be true?
What is the alternative? To fear the world as some horribly destructive malevolent place?
Bad stuff happens everyday. Pain is the great equalizer. Everyone will experience pain in their lifetime. Good, worthy, and loveable people sometimes have more than their share of pain. Pain doesn't play favorites...it just is.
The meaning we place upon it is ours. Could the meaning we put upon our experiences be an illusion? Perhaps. But it is THE thing we do have in our arsenal that we CAN control.
Forgive me for sounding like some damn pop psychology book. I am only coming to these truths myself from experience...and I need to write them down.
Wouldn't it be better to see your experiences as having meaning than...to just dismiss it all as random happenstance? Because...whatever you believe will have a domino effect upon your thoughts...and then your actions...and ultimately on others...who will then have rapidly firing effects upon the rest of the world.
Sometimes we get wake up calls. Things happen which push us to the brink. Pain is usually that sort of wake up call. We are supposed to listen. But it is so hard because...duh...we are in so much pain. But beyond the pain are opportunities. And I hate to say this...but growth within the smallest parameters can produce ultimate possibilities.
I am speaking in vague generalities. Maybe soon I will talk in concrete terms. I just need to figure this all out.
It is as though there is no mistake. I have been told things all along...I have just been resistant. I need to change my perspective greatly. I need to change. I want to. If you do not make the choice to change on your own...life has a way of cornering you and forcing that change. Don’t wait for that...do it now.
Just thinking about water...it is a life force for us all. You go to the ocean and...you see it's beauty...it's magnificence...it's peacefulness. Yet it still has the raw power with which to kill a man. The same water can be life saving in the desert but can also be the thing which is used to take one's life...one can drown in a bathtub of water. There is a dichotomy to life and to us.
Shall we grow or drown?
I do believe it has to do with the reasons...the beliefs...the meaning we intentionally choose for our life.
Come sit a spell and shoot the breeze. Sweeten the day with a little synchronicity...
9 comments:
I totally agree with the understanding you've come to here, Merelyme. I have found - and many writers I've read have said the same thing - that pain and suffering will transform us. We grow as a result of pain.
I think I'll write a bit about that on my blog today. This is such a great topic.
I'm not sure if things happen for a reason but that philosophy sure helps me through some tough times and, if you look back on things, you can usually find some good that came out of it. At least I can.
A few of your thoughts threw me for a loop! Even if I agree that "things happen for a reason" (my jury is still out on that one), I don's see why the alterative would have to be "to fear the world as some horribly destructive malevolent place."
Maybe I missed the point here, but if "life, the universe and everything" (as Douglas Adams refers to it), is random (ie., without reason), certainly it has no intent, good or bad; it just is. Admittedly, though, I struggle even with that thought as I'd prefer something a bit more comforting! Anyway, thanks for making me think!
You've hit the nail right on the head. I couldn't agree more.
Ah, the great existential question: "Is there meaning to life?" I believe that fact that we, as humans, even QUESTION that question...should BE the question! But if I get too "Nietzsche-like", my head hurts! LOL
Linda D. in Seattle
Excellent! I agree.
All beliefs are problematic. C.S. Lewis' quote has made an impression on my heart and mind about beliefs. "You never know how much you really believe anything until truth or falsehood becomes a matter of life and death to you."
Through my own flaws as well as my sufferings, I have learned that in this life, it is inevitable and it is useful because they produce the evidence of my true spiritual condition and humility.
The right perspective is to understand that my trouble of life is part of my human nature and that I must decide what to do about it rather than delaying my actions.
Dear Merelyme,
Last January, through the help of a counsellor who uses Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), I was helped to look at my life challenges, the ups and downs, the deep and painful struggles with severe depression in the last 20 years, in a new light. And I saw so much of the goodness and mercies of God to me in them, and how I grow through each experience and are becoming a better and more useful person.
May you continue to learn and grow through the sufferings and pain you may experience with MS and depression, and continue to help others along your path by sharing the lessons you have learnt. Thanks for your post. Take care.
Warm regards,
Nancie
Are synchronicities accidental or God-incidents? I have a view on this!
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