This week I’ve been meditating on what it means to be in suffering.
How it is so easy for every thought, action (even non-action), and word to lead to suffering without awareness.
You see, when we are not mindful of the space behind our thoughts or actions, essentially we are making a choice in every moment that comes with judgement.
As an example, for the most part without even recognizing it, we are driven by a general need to make the right choice… this can look like:
“I can’t believe I said that?! What can I say next so I don’t sound so stupid?”
“Wow, I ate salad every day for lunch this week! I better keep this up!”
“I want to move to Seattle but I just met my significant other. How do I know which is right?”
Sometimes it doesn’t even feel like suffering! And sometimes it feels like small suffering while other times it feels like BIG suffering. The reality of it is that all problems lead to the same path – suffering.
(Relevant tangent: Even the idea of choices can lead to suffering when the need to make the right choice is very strong. Here, you can use ‘problems’ and ‘choices’ interchangeably.)
Ok, ok, this may sound doomsday but there is light in all of this. Promise!