Pain, Par for the Course

I have some time alone today and I am happy to have an hour or two of quiet reflection. There's only another month left to the year. Even though it is raining everyday, this is the best time of the year for me. And I plan to enjoy every moment of it.

How do I enjoy life? What is enjoyment for me? A day that passes peacefully with nothing extraordinary happening is already a great joy for me. My bar for happiness is set very very low, which is why I'm rarely unhappy.

There were moments in my life over the past decade when I did have to face some difficult times but I took them all in my stride and I was grateful that I learned something valuable from those experiences. To be able to sleep well every night is a great blessing and to wake up every morning alive and kicking is already something worth celebrating. Now you see how low my happiness bar is set.

Can money buy happiness? Yes, but it also buys you an equivalent amount of pain. If you want the kind of happiness that money buys, then be strong and wise enough to tackle the pain that comes with it. When you have the capability to accept pain, pain is just pain. You take it on the chin and it ends there. If pain is suffered consciously, in the very moment itselfr, there's no hidden costs or compounding interest to be paid in the form of chronic mental stress.  

Some people see work as stress and recoil from it. But remember, that's also why you get paid for doing the job. Your job exists because there are problems that need to be solved for the business to function. If you want the happiness that a fat salary buys, be happy too to take the stress that comes along with it. 

With experience and wisdom, you will develop the strength to handle different challenges in an optimal fashion. You'll understand why certain things are painful and then you'll learn how not to take the blows, without injuring yourself.

I've written in another blog article how as long as we are in tune with the carrier wave of life, we will never be carried away by peak ecstatic experiences nor be devastated by any misfortune in life. The oscillations of life should not break the fabric of your existence. You are existence-consciousness-bliss -- that's the triple attribute of your true nature, the ultimate state of perfection, untainted by ego and illusion.

All that wanting, desiring and posturing that you exhibit in your mortal life, one day, you'll see how insignificant and petty they are. But at the moment, they don't appear so to you. Your career and your standing in society seem like non-negotiable pre-conditions for happiness. So embrace them with wisdom and maturity. There will be pain. But it's alright. For pain is par for the course.