Why Do We Have to Suffer So Much?

Is it our fate to suffer?

To Suffer, or Not to Suffer

by Carmen Vasquez

Suffering is something that most of us, as human beings, live with every day. Sometimes it feels like an unfortunate feature that is permanently installed within us by an unknown programmer without our permission. For some people, suffering begins at conception or birth. For others, suffering appears a bit further down the road; they arrive on Earth in a non-traumatic way and are surrounded by love from day one. Sadly, as they grow up, this “perfect reality” starts falling down and their lives are gradually filled with problems and impossible challenges. As this trend, that these people tend to perceive as fate or bad luck continues, suffering starts taking hold. The important question here is this: “Why do we have to suffer so much?”

To understand this question fully and find a good answer, first, we must understand the true reason why we are here on Earth. All of us, every single one of us, came into this world as a particle, a small fraction of the Whole, that Being -or Energy- that, in its absolute perfection, created everything. That entity -by dividing itself into infinite particles- gave birth to every single living creature. That is why we are told that we were created “in the image of God”. Actually, we are a part of that Being, Energy or entity that is known by many different names all over the world.

When we enter our physical bodies, in our current existence as well as in our past ones, we fall into a “deep sleep” and forget who we really are and our true purpose. This purpose is no other than the self-knowledge that leads us to understand that we are not meant to be perfect. This is the real reason why, since the beginning of time, life was created as duality and imperfection. The only true way of knowing what we are is by not being.

Asleep, forgetful and completely disconnected from our true purpose, we have spent millions of years asking ourselves how and why we are here. In order to fight the emptiness that we feel, we have created a plethora of organizations and belief systems that have convinced us that we can fix all of our problems and find our “salvation” if we entrust our faith in external things. Unfortunately, sometimes this quest for answers ends up causing even more suffering as those beings and people, in whom we put our faith, fail to deliver the solutions that we so desperately want. In many cases, all this disappointment leads us to a painful state of frustration and depression.

It is very important that we remember that we are our own creators. Most of the time we create our reality unconsciously as it is not our Conscious mind that controls our lives, but our Unconscious one.

When our consciousness finally feels the need to wake up, many of us feel the urge to start a new journey. Many of us do it by practicing things like the Laws of Attraction, which in the end tend to disappoint its practitioners, repeating empty mantras and giving encouragement to our own reflection in the mirror using silly, manufactured, feel-good phrases. Finally, many of us find spiritual leaders who tell us that with enough faith, we can achieve anything that we want. These people try to convince us that the entire forces of Heaven are on our side, willing to make miracles rain on us and fix all our problems. Sometimes we do witness miracles, but the things that we really desire always seem to be beyond our grasp. These Saints, teachers, gurus, psychics, Angels and even God himself, end up disappointing us. Not only do they not seem to listen to our prayers, but they also seem to take pleasure in “punishing” us. The truth is that nobody is really punishing us: it is our belief which is creating our reality.

The truth is quite clear: we expect too much from external things. Every time we search for that absolute truth, that which “must be”, which will bring us happiness, we look outside of ourselves. However, all the answers that we seek are within ourselves, NEVER OUTSIDE!

The first step we must take if we want to create this new reality is to understand that creation comes from the Unconscious. If we do not want to go through the same experiences, again and again, we must remove the lid of the steam pressure pot of our Unconsciousness, the place where all our past and present lives are stored, and let it be filled with new experiences. That is how we heal, free and make everything that is there conscious as it whispers and tells us things like “don’t go that way” or “take a new path, you can do it!”

Then we must start acting consciously, being aware of every single moment, in order to grasp that new reality and find that new direction. Once we act consciously, we will stop putting all our expectations in external things, external people and external situations. We will start understanding that we are our own creators and we don’t need anyone to come and solve our problems, let alone lead us to “salvation” or change our reality. Finally, we must let everything flow, understanding that all things have their own rhythm. It’s like planting a seed, which needs time to develop and grow before it can bear fruit. Everything that we create needs to run its course, so we must let things flow.

Once we remember where we come from, the true purpose of our existence and our great inner power of constant creation, we will learn that no aspect of reality deserves that we suffer for it. On the contrary, at this moment, we are on Earth to experiment, flow and observe. If we achieve that, all of the challenges we face will feel lighter as we understand that sooner or later, all things will pass. We will also understand that we live in a world of duality and that imperfection is an integral part of that. That is why, in this plane of existence, the search of a perfect life is a fool’s errand. At least in the present, where our evolution and the awakening of our consciousness still need a few centuries to be completed.

Have a happy journey on this Earth. Let go, flow, enjoy the duality and don’t let expectations lead you to suffer!

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About the Author

Carmen Vasquez is the author of inspirational and motivational articles that always share positive messages with her readers. Carmen is a writer for OM Times Magazine and along with her husband, the founder of Journey Angels www.journeyangels.com  has been created to inspire people to transform and develop their lives. Carmen is happily married and a mom of three beautiful angels. She and her family live on the Pacific coast of the U.S.A.