The Benefits of Pain

"Every spiritual life entails a succession of difficulties because every ordinary life also involves a succession of difficulties, what the Buddha describes as the inevitable sufferings of existence.  The basic principle of spiritual life is that our problems become the very place to discover wisdom and love.  As we follow a genuine path of practice, our suffering may seem to increase because we no longer hide from them or from ourselves.  When we do not follow the old habits of fantasy and escape, we are left facing the actual problems and contradictions of our life."  Jack K

I've always liked the acronym SOBER - Son of a Bitch, Everything's Real.  I've always liked the reminder that one of the great benefits of being sober is that we get to feel everything again and one of the great irritants of being sober is that we get to feel everything again.  Suffering is not something to be avoided or suppressed or changed.  It's suffering.  It's the nature of things.  Human beings suffer from time to time.  That's how it has always been and that's how it's going to be and I don't get to avoid that.  Sorry, Seaweed.  Do something with the pain instead of pretending it's not there.