Polly Young-Eisendrath

A constructive and companionable guide to the path of spiritual growth.

Transforming Suffering Into Insight, Compassion and Renewal

The Resilient Spirit

Laura Mei

Many theories of development and spirituality draw some kind of distinction between useful suffering, which leads to development, and useless suffering, which leads merely to the repetition of suffering. In his writings, Carl Jung clearly separated the repetitive ruminations, worries, self-doubts, and anxious habits of the neurotic from the suffering that is an essential part of life. Honest confrontation with this deeper anguish over our ordinary human limitations and imperfections, our inevitable loss, illness, decline, and death, wakes us to the significance of our lives.

[As quoted by June Singer]: When a situation feels truly unbearable, some part of our being has to give way. When things get intolerable we can no longer maintain the facade that holds us together. At first we experience ourselves as disorganized, chaotic. We have to reorganize in some way in order to survive. We can move forward recognizing the past is behind us, and try to find a new sense of self. Or we can stay stuck in ruminating over past events and try to recapture a self that is no longer as useful as it was. Embracing the new self requires that we engage directly with our lives as they are in the very moment that pain or suffering seems intolerable.

Resilience is neither a single action or a constant state. The capacity to be resilient, to respond to difficulty with development, is rooted in many diverse factors, but it consistently depends on 𝘰𝘯𝘦 thing: the meaning you, the individual, make of where you are. When suffering leads to meanings that unlock the mysteries of life, it strengthens compassion, gratitude, joy, and wisdom.

I liked the overall sentiment of this book: that suffering is a largely unavoidable but transformative aspect of our lives. That said, I always find myself internally cringing at the message that all suffering has a higher purpose or meaning. The reality is that things happen in our lives that seem utterly senseless, and for some, believing that tragedy occurs to impart some spiritual lesson can be helpful, while for others it is not. 

The Resilient Spirit Transforming Suffering Into Insight, Compassion and Renewal

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