We experience different kinds of pain and suffering, at different levels of intensity:
- Our Own Pain And Suffering:
- We experience physical, emotional and psychological pain and suffering:
- Physical Pain: Such as scrapes and bruises, broken bones, exhaustion and fatigue, migraines, disease, child birth etc.
- Emotional Pain: Such as fear, stress, shame, trauma from abuse and exploitation, heartbreak, loneliness, feeling unloved and neglected, loss of a loved one etc.
- Psychological Pain: Such as panic attacks, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), depression and other mental illnesses.
- Sometimes, we experience different kinds of pain at the same time, sometimes they're interconnected. For example, depression can cause physical pain etc.
- While we may feel bad for others when we see them suffering, we want their pain and suffering to end so WE don't have to feel bad.
- Other People's Pain And Suffering:
- We don't truly know this kind of pain and suffering because we're immersed in personal selfishness. When we go through a change in the perception of our reality, we'll see ourselves for who we really are and this will cause us great distress and tribulation:
- Our Own Selfishness:
- How We've Harmed Others: We'll be pained by how badly we've treated others (and all of Nature).
- How We Haven't Helped Others: We'll be pained by how many times we could have helped others (and all of Nature), but didn't.
- Other People's Selfishness:
- How Other People Harm Others: We'll be pained by how badly other people treat others (and all of Nature).
- How Other People Don't Help Others: We'll be pained by how many opportunities there are for other people to help others (and all of Nature), but don't.
- We want other people's pain and suffering to end so THEY don't have to feel bad. When they feel better, we feel better.
- Sometimes we'll perceive that we're the only ones in selfishness, everyone else is in bestowal. Other times we'll perceive that we're the only ones in bestowal, everyone else is in selfishness.
- Eventually, we'll come to realize that we were never in selfishness, we were always in bestowal. All of us, we were always in bestowal.
If you're hurting in any way, shape or form, contact your doctor, family physician, psychiatrist, psychologist or faith leader. Reach out to family, friends or local community support groups. Remember, we're all in this together.
In everything we do, we should seek to benefit others instead of ourselves.
Do not be afraid. God is with us.
Copyright © 2014, Carter Kagume. All Rights Reserved.
