What is seen as suffering is a unique experience for each of us. For some, it is the automatic routine of a daily job for others that job is enjoyment and peace. However, from the point of view of making a difference in your life, that is, making your life better, lets look at suffering as that which you mechanically or automatically allow to occur in your moment to moment waking life. It is the sum total of all your mechanical habits and thoughts and feelings that close you in to a box that you define as “my life”. You may believe you are “choosing” this but your are not as it is an unfolding of the habits that you have allowed to define as “my life”. There is no real choice involved here as that which you are allowed to occur is not subject to an objectively evaluative experience using reason and logic as to what is best for you in that moment in which the habit of thought, or feeling or action unfolds.

Conscious suffering always allows a deliberate choice. Then why would I call it suffering? Because that conscious or deliberate choice involves ‘work’ to direct the attention away from the automatic thoughts and feelings that occur and expose the situation or experience to objective evaluation as to what is reasonably and logically the best course of action, and even thought and feeling before acting and even before allowing the automatic emotions and thoughts to play out!! WOW, imagine that having a WILL to choose one’s life, one experience at a time. In fact, when this is done this process called “conscious suffering” is NOT suffering at all but rather it is EN-JOY-ABLE!! Start with little things or situations you are comfortably able to THINK about before they happen and plot out, with reason and logic how would I engage for a better experience and result, in any and all aspects of the experience!!

Try that and feel free to let me know how that works, or not, for you!!