Thursday, November 21, 2013

Suffering and Pain- Imperative to having an interesting life? I think not.

Today the subject of suffering and its importance to human life has been on my mind a great deal. It seems to me, everyone thinks that it is only possible to have an exciting life if suffering and pain are present. Why is that? Can one not have a exciting life without going through horribly traumatic experiences? I have gone through my fair share of traumatic and extremely painful areas of life, and i'm glad i have. I don't regret any of my decisions i've made in life, they've all shaped me into the person i am today. I happen to rather like the person I am, but there of course is always room for improvement. However, it seems to me that even if a person hadn't experienced suffering, pain and had an incredibly happy life who's to say that persons life isn't interesting? There is much more to life then just pain, there is also adventures, friendships, fellowship and learning. I know that it is impossible to experience a full life without ever going through trials and tribulations, but I want you to think of how the world looks through the eyes of a child. Most children haven't experienced what i would define as true pain and suffering, does that mean that child's life is boring? Of course not! The life of a child is the exact opposite of boring, their lives are full of wonder and excitement! Children have the most amazing imagination, they don't need suffering or pain to enhance their way of living. Alas, humans were not meant to stay in this state forever, we grow and somewhere along our travelings we forget how to turn a stick into a scepter and a tree into a castle. Our innocence is lost and we have a yearning to search out the "real" things in life for ourselves. Life doesn't need to be painful to be enjoyed or interesting, life merely needs to be appreciated. Who's to say whether or not a life is interesting anyways? Why should we care what others think of our own lives as long as we are satisfied with who we are?