Live With It

          When pain can be avoided, it will be masochistic for anyone to insist living it.  When you are ill, by all means go find cure.  When you are stressed, it is advisable you find a positive activity that can calm you down.  But sometimes pain is unavoidable.  Those who live with a terminal cancer or who have just experienced major grief such as the death of loved ones, relationship that fell apart, etc., either temporarily or permanently, have to live with their pain and discomfort.  In this situation there is no escape, no activity can distract them from the pain.  Some people may resort to temporary relief such as drugs or alcohol only to sink lower and lower each time.  And the more you resist, the more conflict it generates, the more you are in pain.  The only way out is to befriend your pain or grief, watch it, feels it as it is without justifying or condemning it.  It is painful and uncomfortable, sure, but it is only a small part of the big picture.  You can’t probably see it that way when you are overwhelmed with this powerful feeling, but remember everything is fleeting, impermanent.  When it is winter now, shouldn’t you be rejoicing that spring is just around the corner and summer will be coming soon?  Your pleasure doesn’t last, neither does your pain.  Can you remember the immediate problems you faced five years ago, twenty years ago? If you do, does it still have the same kind of emotional entanglement it caused you then?  So, this one too shall go away, if you can see it in the right perspective it really isn’t that bad.  Clinging to pain is as suicidal as clinging to pleasure.  Don’t take it too personall