Suffering and Growth

Prayer for the Day presented by Steve Taylor.

Good morning.

It probably hasn’t escaped your attention by now that life can sometimes be challenging. Even the most privileged people in the world can’t escape stress, crises and trauma. As the Buddha stated, life involves suffering. The Buddha identified different types of suffering, both physical and mental. He highlighted the physical suffering of illness, old age and dying, and the mental suffering of desires that can’t be satisfied, and the instability of life.

However, in psychology, research shows that suffering may have positive long-term effects. The concept of ‘post-traumatic growth’ is well-established and is underpinned by detailed research. After trauma, around half of all people will undergo some form of positive development. In my own research, I have coined the term ‘transformation through turmoil’ to describe the dramatic positive effects that may arise from crises and challenges.

This doesn’t mean that we should welcome suffering or purposely seek it out. I don’t want to minimise the pain that trauma and turmoil can bring. But even if that pain remains with us to some degree, we may emerge from our suffering as deeper and stronger people. As I have expressed it poetically:

When life is comfortable, we fall asleep
as if we’re inside a stuffy old house
where the heating’s too high and all windows are
closed.

That’s when misfortune arrives, out of nowhere.
It bursts through our door in the middle of the night
and turns life upside down, to wake us up.

But this is how we grow:
after the shock of upheaval and the pain of loss
broken fragments fuse together.

A new structure forms – a sturdy new self
that feels more alert and alive
and holds more love and wisdom.

Misfortune doesn’t come to break us down
but to wake us up and help us grow.

Blessings.