"Suffering is a dreadful teacher but often the beginning of the best in us. Suffering and creativity are often interdependent. pain produces a terrible tension released in our creative response. Suffering can be like a grain of sand in an oyster: it can create a magnificent pearl."
-- Teresa of Ávila
In my opinion, there is a pervasive belief in American popular culture that we need to bubble-wrap our lives. Pain, discomfort and suffering should be prevented and/or avoided as much as possible. Gina and I have seen it in an extreme form on a show where a Yuppie couple was getting a garden-makeover, and one of their concerns was that there not be too many flowers because their children might get stung. No one had a history of allergic anaphylactic shock to bee venom. They just didn't want their children to be exposed to such pain. *Snort* Getting stung is one of the rites of passage in childhood. I remember a bee stinging me on the elementary school playground, at recess. I didn't even bother to tell a teacher. Do those parents think they'll be able to shield their kids from pain later in life? Wait 'til they get to junior high, when "intercranial hormonal pressure" comes into play, and children start getting truly nasty to each other.
Hardship builds character, empathy and a host of other positive things. It sparks creativity. We wouldn't have the poetry of Rumi or Edison's light bulb without it, just to name a couple of examples. The trick is to rise to the occasion, instead of wallowing in defeat and self-pity, which doesn't accomplish anything. That comes with repeated exposure. Practice makes perfect, and all that.
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