Suffering Has A Noble Purpose

“Suffering has a noble purpose; the evolution of consciousness and the burning up of the ego. “  ~Eckhart Tolle

A very special person told me once (and I’ve heard this from a few spiritual teachers) that suffering is here for us so we can grow to the next level, if we choose. The next level I’m talking about is the next level of ‘consciousness’.

I suffered for many years with anxiety…….and I would never go back. It is a gift. It has catapulted me to a new level of consciousness – an increased Awareness of Life. It has made me who I am today and I am filled with gratitude. It has taken me out of my head, and into my body, and into a new way of BEing.

If I was given a chance to go back and be the person I was before my first panic attack, I’d say NO WAY! I know that Self before the anxiety had a purpose..and now the Self that is typing these words has another purpose.

What does ‘consciousness’ mean to you?

I believe consciousness implies that we have more ‘awareness’ of life. And when I say ‘awareness’ I’m talking about our ability to perceive or be conscious of  life experiences.

I hear so many people speak of how horrible it is that this person is suffering and that one is suffering, but if we really KNEW and were AWARE of why we suffer, we wouldn’t think it was so horrible. I’ve overheard people say how bad they feel for this person here or that person over there because they cannot do what they used to do due to their injury, or health issue or whatever the reason is for their new way of being. But you know what, maybe that person over here or there doesn’t feel sorry for themselves, maybe they are grateful too. You never know.

And also, we all aren’t going to be able to do in the future what we do now…..it’s a part of aging…..and when you become aware of this fact as well, you will suffer less and enjoy BEing more.

“The ego says, ‘I shouldn’t have to suffer,’ and that thought makes you suffer so much more. It is a distortion of the truth, which is always paradoxical. The truth is that you need to say yes to suffering before you can transcend it.”  ~Eckhart Tolle

What if you didn’t label what you see as ‘suffering’ as suffering. What if you gave it a different label (and I’m not crazy about labels, but in this case I’m trying to point to something). What if you labeled it as, hmm, let’s say, ‘new experience’ or ‘divine message’. How does that change the energy around what you call ‘suffering’?

I do not know anyone who has this ‘awareness’ of life who hasn’t suffered. And if we do not accept our ‘new experiences’ and ‘divine messages’, we can never work through them.

How many times, when you have been in the midst of suffering, (let’s say for instance you are either feeling: pain in your body, sadness from being alone, guilt from overeating, scared due to a new health issue, and/or grieving due to some sort of loss, be it a job or health or pet or person), have you sat with those feelings and really felt them in your body…..allowed those feelings to rest in your body without trying to do anything you can, anything at all to make them go away….anything…….anything to make yourself busy so not to FEEL any of those emotions?

That was my life for a few years….doing anything I can to make these painful feelings, these unwanted sensations in my body go away. Will you just go away! Leave me alone….why me?…..what did I ever do?…….

Then it happened…..I sat with those feelings……being uncomfortable………squirming around………wanting to run away…….but I was committed. I was committed to my health, to my well being, to working THROUGH these feelings because fighting them was not working…..and believe me I put up a GOOD fight. But the more I resisted these feelings, the more they surfaced.

This does not happen overnight for most people………it’s a gradual awakening………an awakening of your awareness…….that’s how it happened for me. I’m sure some people may have this happen in an instant, in an instant of intense suffering where they actually surrender……….and by this I do not mean GIVING UP………by this I mean totally accepting ‘What Is’…….it’s saying YES to life and YES to your suffering so, as the quote says above, …….you can finally transcend it.

Any thoughts? Comments? Sharing? Would love to hear what  you’re thinkin’!

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