Not all Suffering is Bad

Suffering is the main focus in Buddhist ethics. Allowing one’s body to acknowledge suffering and learn from it is the main concept in which Buddha teaches. Buddha praises that, “Without suffering you can’t grow. Without suffering you can’t get to see the peace and joy you deserve.”(Hanh 5) This specifically means that without suffering one is not able to learn and grow from mistakes and is incapable of seeing the little “good” things in life. Buddha truly believes that there needs to be suffering present for there to be happiness. The Four Noble Truths is the background of Buddhist ethics. The Truths include acknowledging a suffering, finding the origin of the suffering, cease from suffering, and the Noble Eightfold Path that includes mindsets that counteract suffering. Though there may always be suffering present in life, through Buddhist ethics that suffering can transform into happiness.
            Suffering is a very broad subject, for different people it means completely different things. I personally know that I was suffering when I lost my very dear grandmother last Christmas. When I found out about her passing I could not cease the tears from rolling down my face. My heart was broken and I couldn’t image not ever seeing her in person again, and what hurt the most was not being able to say bye. I knew that she wouldn’t want me to dwell and suffer from her passing, but rather see all the positive impacts that she had made on my life. Though it was hard not to cry whenever she was brought up and popped into my mind, I know that she would want me to be strong. This taught me to never take any day for granted because there will come a time when there are no more days left to live. I know think about her and smile because I know that she is watching over me and still helping me live the life of my dreams.
            Another example of suffering that I have had in my life is from school. The stress levels from exams, quizzes, lab reports and homework sometimes just become too much. I wallow and think about quitting and want to just cry my worries away. But I recognize every time that all this suffering is just in my head. I over think everything and if I just take one thing at a time everything that I have to accomplish become doable. I think about how lucky I am to be able to attend college and further my education. There are so many people that would love to have to opportunity to be in my shoes but are unable for many different reasons.  Using the Four Noble truths I was able to learn from the suffering and grow. Having a positive mindset allows for so much more accomplishment. Buddha preaches, “Embrace your suffering, and it will reveal to you the way to peace.” (Hanh 5) It is necessary that you embrace the bad days with as much effort as the good days. The bad suffering days is what builds character and allows one to cherish the things that bring happiness to life. Buddhist ethics isn’t about removing all the suffering from life, it’s about embracing the suffering to learn something from it and be able to be thankful for everything that you have.