Tip #179 Wise Words Wednesday; Senselessness of Suffering

     Suffering stinks. A whole lot. No one wants it for themselves nor (hopefully) for others, and yet it happens. Why? Well, I don't think I'll open that particular Pandora's box at the moment. As you know, for hundreds of years theologians, aethiests, professors and regular Joe's alike have had different opinions on why we suffer, what constitutes suffering, and if we can ever be rid of said insult. And while everyone debates the exact definition and cause, suffering is alive and well - present and persistent, whether it is happening to you or someone you love. How frustrating is that?!?

What really raises one's indignation against suffering is not suffering intrinsically, but the senselessness of suffering.- Friedrich Nietzche, 1844-1900

     Looks like Nietzche felt the same way, and he says what it is that I am trying to say much better than anything I could consider writing. I have to say that Nietzche "gets" it:
a) He gets that it is frustrating not just to experience the trauma, but to also experience the senselessness of the trauma happening in the first place (no matter what role you are in).
b) He gets that focus is everything. He isn't focusing on how it feels to be in the initial trauma (i.e, trauma puts someone in a wheelchair) as much as he is focusing on what many people get stuck on - the why did it have to happen, (and why am I in that wheelchair). Personally, I want my focus to have a similar spin; to spend my energy recovering, not analyzing why this is happening to me and why it is making me specifically need to recover. I love Nietzche's words because I think that when we can see a difference, we can change how we think about a situation such as this, and make a choice that helps us heal.
     What I find most productive in my life in terms of healing is to focus on God first, and then the other things fall more easily into place. Of course all of that is sometimes still easier said than done!  Still, I believe that losses and hurt often need to be grieved, spoken, addressed, treated and then perhaps grieved, spoken, addressed, and treated again - whether done so with God, with others, and/or with a combination thereof.  Isn't it amazing that in terms of solidarity (and an"I am not crazy" type of way) to know that someone else more than a hundred years ago "gets" the depth of what any of us may be experiencing today?  Aside: Let's clarify that it's not glad that they had to experience it, just glad that if they did, it wasn't all for naught. It brings a sense of understanding and belonging to others in the same boat many years down the line. Ergo, you're not crazy. There's nothing wrong with the way you feel.You're not alone in being frustrated and/or in hating the unfairness of it all.
     So, no matter how frustrated you are, you are not the only ones to fail to understand why something as senselessness as suffering can be so present and persistent. I wonder if Nietche would be surprized to know that more than a hundred years after his death, people were quoting him, and feeling some solidarity with him because of his views? But I digress....

Happy solidarity-ness!

    
  


    

  




"What really raises one's indignation against suffering is not suffering intrinsically, but the senselessness of suffering."
Friedrich Nietzsche 
(1844 - 1900) "What really raises one's indignation against suffering is not suffering intrinsically, but the senselessness of suffering."
Friedrich Nietzsche 
(1844 - 1900)