We blot out the suffering right before our eyes

My yoga teacher used to remind us that the practice doesn’t get easier, we just get stronger.

Her mantra has broad applications both on and off the mat.

Because whether we’re breathing through the discomfort of camel pose, or breathing through the stress of daily life, one thing is for certain.

It’s not like we get to some place where the suffering ends. We just get better at handling it. But only if we’re willing to do the hard work of training the heart.

Louie, during his early years as a standup comic, trained in a boxing gym. His theory was, every artist should learn how to do the grunt work, the boring, constant training. That way they’ll be fit enough to take the beating.

Are you training yourself to persist through the pain? Or are you burning out early, thinking that the hard part is behind you?

Buddhists and stoic philosophers have been practicing this for centuries. They call it voluntary suffering.

Which is different from suffering the pangs of existence in this life to prove ourselves worthy of later life. It’s about counteracting hardship by scheduling in advance. That way, we become accustomed to it.

The theory is, the more of that suffering you build into your life intentionally, the less it will affect you when it happens involuntarily.

Which may sound masochistic, but in a world where most people are using denial and addiction as futile attempts to avoid the painful facts about life, it might do us some good to introduce a little voluntary suffering.

Best case scenario, we build up an emotional callus that serves us well when everything goes to shit.

Worst case scenario, we were miserable for a little extra time, by choice.

Either way, we never get to some place where the suffering ends. May as well learn to live with it.

LET ME ASK YA THIS…
Are you burning out early, thinking that the hard part is behind you?