PAIN IS MANDATORY...SUFFERING IS OPTIONAL
 This is a delicate topic, I know. Those of us who have some 12-Step experience might have heard it before. Those who have not heard it before, well, it might take you a little time to warm up to the saying. It's one that you might be able to grasp and understand more on the emotional and spiritual levels, but it's harder to see how it applies to the physical level. Yet, I've seen people in tremendous pain who are still able to be a pillar of faith and strength for those who are not in pain. Life here on earth is full of duality, and it is part of the journey to experience it all. Some of us can take the pain we experience in life and learn from it and make life a better place for not only ourselves, but also those we come into contact with. Some of us see that pain as a learning experience. Our life's pain does not have to define us. It can make each of us a better person; we do not have to continue to suffer while in pain. Instead of pain being a stumbling block and keeping us from our destination in life, we can use it as steps on a road to get us to that next place where we want to be. It's all about our perception and how we view it. This perception rarely just pops out of us. It usually takes a little time and the best way to cultivate it is with "quiet time" for yourself. By this, I mean prayer and meditation. Believe it or not, we are who we are because of the pain we have gone through in life. I have experienced more pain than most, but not as much as some, and that pain has made me into the person I am today. The pain has represented stepping stones, rather than stumbling stones, for me. It's important that we go through the pain, but not get stuck in the pain and suffer because of it. Hitting the instant replay button (thinking of the painful experience over and over) in our head is an action to continue to suffer; telling our pain stories over and over, is pressing the replay button. Taking positive action empowers us to move forward and there are many ways to take action. We've all seen the stories on TV, or witnessed them firsthand, about those who have nothing materially, but yet they have the biggest smile, an endless depth of faith and an inner peace that those who have everything materially don't have. Are they choosing to walk through it or wallow in the suffering? They go through it and make lemonade out of lemons. In essence, what "pain is mandatory, suffering is an option" is saying to me is that yes, in life we will experience pain on many levels (physical, emotional, mental and even spiritual, but suffering is really a choice that we make. Over the next few weeks in the Ah-Man Blog, I will elaborate more on each of those areas and how they might come about and what you might be able to do to see that experience that is causing you pain that pain from a different perspective. | 
