This is a great truth, one of the greatest.
The first of the “ Four Noble Truths” which Buddha taught was “Life is suffering.”
It is a great truth because once we truly
see this truth, we transcend it.
Once we truly know that life is difficult,
Once we truly understand and accept it,
then life is no longer difficult.
Life is a series of problems.
Do we want to moan about them or solve them? Do we want to teach our children to solve them?
Discipline is the basic set of tools
we require to solve life’s problems.
Without discipline, we cannot solve anything.
With only some discipline we can solve only some problems. With total discipline we can solve all problems.
What makes life difficult is that,
the process of confronting and solving problems is a painful one.
Problems, depending upon their nature, evoke in us frustration or grief or sadness or loneliness or guilt or regret or anger or fear or anxiety or anguish or despair.
These are uncomfortable feelings,
often very uncomfortable,
often as painful as any kind of physical pain,
sometimes equaling the very worst kind of physical pain. Indeed, it is because of the pain that events or conflicts engender in us all that we call them problems. Since life poses an endless series of problems, life is always difficult & is full of pain as well as joy.
Problems are the cutting edge that distinguishes between success and failure.
Problems call forth our courage and our wisdom. It is only because of problems that we grow mentally and spiritually.
When we desire to encourage the growth of the human spirit, we challenge & encourage the human capacity to solve problems,
Just as in school we deliberately set problems for our children to solve.
It is through the pain of confronting and resolving problems that we learn.
As Benjamin Franklin said,
"Those things that hurt, instruct.”
It is for this reason that wise people learn not to dread but actually to welcome problems & actually to welcome the pain of problems.
God bless
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