Peace or suffering?

I’m constantly hearing words or statements and writing them down in my phone. I just love hearing someone use a word I’ve forgotten or a phrase that conjures the imagination. I love listening to the way people speak and how their language choices set them apart. Wordsmiths make me giddy.

This week a question stuck in my head. I’m not even sure where I heard or read it but it’s been rattling around in my brain.

Do you choose peace or suffering?

My initial reaction was no one chooses to suffer unless relieving guilt or because they are putting others’ happiness before their own. And suffer? Such a dramatic word.

But then I began to digest this question a little more. It’s really the two paths in our lives. Peace, jubilance, heaven or suffering, misery and hell. You can really put every situation in your life into one of the two categories. DMV lines = misery. When you find that missing sock = joy. Driving in 95 traffic= misery. Finding a cool spot on the bed when you feel hot = joy. So the question then becomes, which path are you choosing to go down?

And paths are not always straight. They can bring you happiness one minute and misery the next. So what you choose, may not be what you end up with. Fair but on the whole, do you think you’re choosing the peaceful path or the one of suffering?

Because, there are those people who are chronically unsatisfied, to put it mildly. You feel the negativity ooze from them when in their presence. Why have they chosen to navigate life with bitter glasses on?

For those who choose peace as your path, congratulations- you’re winning in life. Choosing peace may sound like the obvious better option, but that’s not necessarily true. I think subconsciously, this includes myself, that we put ourselves in situations that test our peace. We endure struggle as a testament to our strength. We pick the difficult road to prove our worth. The path of least resistance is not as fulfilling. Welcome to being an entrepreneur.

So life is really a balance of the two. Can you really have one without the other? What I learned from this question is to question my path more. Before making a choice, I now find myself saying "will this lead to peace or suffering?" 

Recently, I had to make a decision that I knew would cause anguish for two parties in the immediate. I knew hurt and anger would be involved. But I also knew that further down the line, happiness would ensue. The key is always finding that tiny glimpse of light and holding tightly to it. Peace will eventually follow suffering. Or at least it always had for me. What about you? 

I hope you find more peaceful days than anything else, 
Jamiesonxo