Just a Thought....(6)

"The two enemies of human happiness are pain and boredom."

- Arthur Schopenhauer 

(1788-1860), German Philosopher

A friend of mine sent me this quote by Arthur Schopenhauer in an e-mail a few days ago...and, well...it got me thinking.

As we all know, from experience and from the stories of others, pain is inescapable.   According to the Buddha, the fact that pain–or suffering–exists, is the first of his four noble truths.  Whether physical or psychological, it's a part of life, and it takes place every day in hundreds of different ways, with some needing more time than others to subside.  When we experience pain, we often see it as negative; we complain, cry, wonder "why"...in short, we hate it!  But let's think about it differently.  Isn't pain the thing that shakes us to the core and "wakes us up"?  Yes, it is definitely unpleasant, but look beyond it; what happens after the pain?  Look at your past experiences: breakups, failures, deaths...and the list goes on...where are you now?  How did those painful events shape you?  Speaking for myself, I can firmly assert that every single painful experience I went through made me the person I am today; I'm one who carries her scars with pride, why?  Because I definitely learned a valuable lesson, and if I still don't know what that lesson exactly is, I'll find out in due time.  Other than making us stronger, pain serves another purpose: it makes us appreciate things we previously took for granted.  It polishes your soul and your spirit, raises your attentiveness and makes you more aware and alert of your thoughts and actions.

What about boredom? I would say that boredom is worse than pain.  Why?  Well, as I previously mentioned, I can clearly see the "purpose" of the existence of pain, but why does boredom exist?  In my opinion, boredom is more hopeless.  I am aware that it is escapable, nevertheless, what are the lessons learned when one comes out of it? It is a state of numbness; no contemplation, no thinking and no acting, in short, when a person is bored and does nothing about it, i.e. succumbs to a state of boredom, what could he or she possibly learn from it other than the existence, or the feeling, of boredom?