Love it @barge! You're right on the money with so much here, and so much of it parallels the thesis of Viktor Frankl's Man's Search for Meaning . Suffering helps us focus...it is an opportunity for us to be self-aware at level we rarely achieve in any other state of mind. So easy to talk about but much harder to do, which is why we have to educate ourselves with great posts like these. Awesome work!
Hadn't come across him before and had to look him up! To have a parallel made between his work and the expression of this post is an honour, it is impossible for me to imagine the extent and intensity of suffering (physical, emotional and psychological) he will have witnessed. Suffering does have that quality of being a teacher - a guru - and can certainly be seen as a powerful servant of conscious awakening for as you say "it is an opportunity for us to be self-aware at level we rarely achieve in any other state of mind". So if we can't get suffering (or adversity) to do it for us (or if we don't do it for ourselves by going through suffering consciously), who/what else ever could?
The wikipedia article goes on to say:
...we always have a choice, that's an EMPOWERING thought!
The manner in which you received this post and the eloquence (yes indeed :) with which you responded is really uplifting, many thanks @artibeus.
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The pleasure is all mine @barge, especially in light of this awesome follow-up response. My deepest apologies that I missed this for a few days!
So glad you dug into Frankl! That last passage in particular that you included from wikipedia is perfect. Give his book a try whenever you get a chance - its short and arguably the best piece of non-fiction (or perhaps the most impactful) that you'll read.
Again great work and thanks for getting us all to pause and engage in some higher-level thinking! Looking forward to plenty more!