While suffering is by no means a welcome or pleasant experience, to say the least, it is viewed as essential to being human. We all suffer at some point in our lives, though the degree to which we do is by no means the same. Some say that ignorance is bliss, but I believe that it is just close-minded and selfish. Even the most sheltered people cannot stay protected, in the majority of cases. The current order of the world demands suffering and pain be present in our daily lives, if not our own pain, we see the pain of others.
If nothing else, suffering allows for greater empathy, by suffering ourselves, we can more closely identify and feel for with others. While in most situations we cannot understand completely what someone else is going through, by having suffered at some point in our lives, we are a step closer to being able to be there for them.
One of the hardest comparisons I believe can be made is comparing one person's suffering to another's, because suffering is relative. Similar to many other situations, we believe our suffering is greater than our neighbors because humans are competitive creatures who want to be the best, even if being the best is really being the lowest. In order to make ourselves feel more justified in our pain we compare ourselves to others, even though we can in no way understand what they are going through.
Even if we think we are going through the same thing as someone, say you both have a beloved family member who has cancer, we still cannot compare our suffering to them because the same situation does not mean the same thing for every person. We do not know what goes on inside the heads of the people around us, we cannot be cocky enough to believe that we know how they are feeling.
I am not saying that we cannot try to understand people, we can be empathetic and supportive to those who are struggling. We cannot push them to think that their suffering is nothing or stupid, we have to be there for people, even if we do not understand. I think that if as a world we can become more empathetic and simply kind, then we will see change.
My blog post was very similar. I totally agree with this and I think this is a big issue in our world today. Like you said, our world is filled with hate and suffering at the moment, so it is vital that we take our time to be empathetic with others. However, being empathetic and telling someone you know how they feel are two separate things. Sometimes, when someone is suffering, the best thing to do for that person is to just be there and listen.
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