There are a lot of sayings about having to experience pain to know happiness. My favorite being DJ Khaled's saying, "You have to go through the jungle to make it to paradise." Victor Frankl in "Man's Search for Meaning" challenges the power of the pain often described by quotes in his expression of the suffering felt in a concentration camp.
Persevering is often thought of as the key to overcome. Frankl cited apathy as the what was used to survive. I think that through apathy they were able to persevere. Through utilizing apathy they were able to make it through. There seems to be a stratification of the type of suffering and the ways to make it through.
My favorite part of the piece was the discovery of happiness. The fleeting and attainable moments of happiness Frankl was able to discovery were beautiful.
In all I don't think the question is whether or not we should suffer. I think the question is what degree of suffering needs to be felt?
"What degree of suffering needs to be felt?" I don't know! Every time something really wonderful happens to me, I worry that something equally awful will follow, and vice versa. How much does life's balance need to hurt, and what kind of pain is truly beneficial?
ReplyDeleteI think that is a good question, and probably a more accurate one. Because suffering does cause permanent damage, and I think that sometimes extreme suffering will leave someone with inescapable consequences. But I also think that no suffering leaves people with superficial views of the world. Maybe there is a middle ground, or even a "sweet spot" for suffering, even though that sounds ridiculous.
ReplyDeleteI love so much that you compared Victor Frankls story to DJ Khaled. And good question that you pose at the end. I agree that its a given that we need to suffer, but how much do we need to suffer is the real question.
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