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To Live Is to Suffer

A Thought, Nothing More

By Docyele LlenretepPublished 5 years ago 3 min read
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A Thought, Nothing More
To live is to suffer,to survive is to find some meaning in the suffering.~ Friedrich Nietzsche

Meaning. Purpose. Suffering. Wanting to end that suffering. Wanting to heal and be consistently happy.

Can you tell me of a soul that was ever consistently happy? One? One soul who never experienced sadness, pain, anguish, rejection, anger, jealousy, envy, and especially fear? In the human experience there is a myriad spectrum of emotions—states of being that we may experience at any given moment, triggered by some catalyst event or otherwise. We are more than just happiness, and I believe that in and of itself is fulfilling. To live is to suffer. We suffer in all we do. We think life is "in"sufferable, life is cruel. Yet there is beauty in the storm. The flowers always bloom. We do not choose their shade, only how we see their colors. Pain can make us strong, fear can make us perform great feats, hope can keep us alive, anguish can make us beautiful, jealousy can turn into passion, envy can transmute into accomplishment, and suffering can give us purpose. Would not a mother suffer for her children so that she may give them a better life? May a child not suffer for his mother so that he may help her live her later years more comfortably? Does the monk not only abstain, but give from his heart?

They are tools. Tools for our disposal, yet we want a convenient quick fix, a Google answer, a pill, a visit to the doctor. Oh, the countless hours we have spent laughing at memes on social media only to go back to a 9-5 job and evening depression when we’re alone with ourselves. Why do we feel these emotions? Why do we view these experiences and feelings as if it isn’t an important happening? Is it just a chemical reaction caused by internal subconscious memory possibly triggered by some outside stimuli? It just happens?

We could agree with that thesis. As that is what it should properly be called. Or, rather, we could look at the simple fact that over countless millennia we have experienced these same emotions, same feelings, that led to our greatest feats of history. The most beautiful art and architecture were bred from these emotions: books, songs, poetry, etc. These emotions we once revered gave life to many stories that have been repeated over the ages. These emotions, this suffering, is the greatest testament to our existence. We find meaning in it, and we persist in integrating the purpose of these emotions, this suffering. The unending desire for constant, consistent happiness is a vacuum that encapsulates us away from experiencing the true happiness; that happiness is knowing that happiness itself is fleeting. You will never be consistently happy; yet, you will also never be consistently depressed, nor angry, jealous, or in pain, for these are ranges of the human experience, filters for the light that is the heart of the human condition. Just as a ray of light can be split into a spectrum of colors, so too do our emotions in this once singular experiencing. If we can objectively view our experiences instead of being consumed by them, or overwhelmed by the lack thereof, in that moment, we can be still.

Move with that storm. Be formless like water. Let yourself be that placid lake that becomes the steam that fuels the storm. Be the rain as it falls from the sky. Be the clouds as they unleash their torrent. Just be. Experience the moment, the emotion, the suffering, and understand it. Be it, don’t dream it. These tools are meant to help us understand the world we live in.

Don’t hide from your own emotions. Accept them with patient understanding and compassionate forgiveness. Get to know them as you would a stranger to a friend of many years. They are there to teach you, to guide you—it’s a personal instinctual reaction to the world. Don’t deny it, don’t hide. Be it.

healing
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About the Creator

Docyele Llenretep

Mystic, Empath, Shaman, Reiki Practitioner, Exorcist, Occultist, Poet, Writer, Healer, and Hermit. I am called many things, by many names, with many titles, but you may call me Docyele. I practice many different paths and observe all I see.

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