“…when Pain is to be born, a little courage helps more than much knowledge, a little human sympathy more than much courage, and the least tincture of the love of God more than all.”– C.S. Lewis, The Problem of Pain

It is far easier to talk about Suffering than to bear it. When we need to endure so much pain, sometimes all the knowledge we think we have seem to disappear. All that we can think about is how much we are hurting. Time passes by ever so slowly and many times it’s as though our suffering would never end.

Where do we find relief from our suffering? How do we somehow alleviate the pain?

Here are some of the things that have helped me endure suffering:

1. Person

It is having that person whom you can depend upon that helps you endure the most difficult sufferings in life. Just knowing that you are not alone already lightens your heavy load. You endure the pain with them and for them. Many times, it is your concern for them that allows you to forget much of your sufferings because instead of focusing on them, you care about the people who love you and are there for you.

“When we honestly ask ourselves which person in our lives mean the most to us, we often find that it is those who, instead of giving advice, solutions, or cures, have chosen rather to share our pain and touch our wounds with a warm and tender hand. The friend who can be silent with us in a moment of despair or confusion, who can stay with us in an hour of grief and bereavement, who can tolerate not knowing, not curing, not healing and face with us the reality of our powerlessness, that is a friend who cares.” – Henri J.M. Nouwen

2. Perspective on Permanence

Much of my anxious thoughts come from the thought that my painful situation may never end. It is the permanence of the hurt that scares me and makes me lose my hope. Quite often, however, the difficulty I have is fleeting. It may seem like eternity to me, but in truth, the pain doesn’t last and I am often given times of pause and rest.

“Only one principle will give you courage, that is the principle that no evil lasts for ever, nor indeed for very long.” – St. Epicuris

“Nothing is permanent in this wicked world – not even our troubles.” – Charlie Chaplin

3. Purpose

We can endure many difficult things, including physical and emotional pain if we know the purpose behind our sufferings. Keeping the goal in mind, we muster the patience that would help us go on. We strengthen ourselves with the thought that our suffering isn’t meaningless, that it would instead yield some good.

“Those who have a ‘why’ to live, can bear with almost any ‘how’.” – Viktor E. Frankl, Man’s Search for Meaning

Final Words

No one knows the true taste of suffering except the person who has experienced it. When you are in pain, you cease to preach things you don’t really believe in. You face the hurt right where it is and you look for all the ways that could help alleviate your pain.

If you are in any difficulty at the moment, may you find some comfort right where you are. May there be people who could make you feel less alone. May there be some meaning you could hold on to. And may you have the hope to keep on believing that even the darkest night shall pass away.

“Although the world is full of suffering, it is also full of the overcoming of it.” – Helen Keller

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