Do you suffer from deep or chronic Physical or emotional pain? by Linda Bloom  Pain is Inevitable; Suffering is Optional Regardless of what we do, life will at some point, bring us losses, disappointments, and instances of physical and emotional pain. Pain is the experience of something that creates physical, mental or emotional distress. It’s the body’s way of bringing our awareness to something that needs our attention. Pain, either physical or emotional, is the body’s way to inform us that we need to attend to something. Although pain isn’t an emotion, there are emotions that are painful to experience. Grief, anxiety, guilt, shame, and rage are all examples. Emotions are energy in motion in the body. Some are more difficult to experience than others and we identify them as being “negative,” but those are simply labels that describe our assessment of those sensations. Suffering is what we experience when there is prolonged resistance to painful experiences. It is often during our efforts to avoid, deny, or resist that which is inevitable, that we create suffering. People who live at a high level of well-being know how to respond to the messages they receive from their body and are able to attend to their emotions appropriately and skillfully. They are neither compulsive pleasure-seekers nor compulsive avoiders. They don’t compulsively deny pain, but rather experience feelings and sensations with a minimum of attachment or aversion. The tendency to withdraw from painful experiences is deeply embedded pattern. We do it involuntarily, which in many instances is a good thing. We don’t have to try to decide whether or not to let go of a hot plate, our nervous system implements that decision and takes the appropriate action in a nano-second. Most people don’t have any idea that another response is possible. If you...

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