The pursuit of happiness versus the art of avoiding pain. Interesting contrast in the focus of one’s life. It is apropos to mention the pursuit of happiness because the quote above is by the same author, Thomas Jefferson.
So, my dilemma about pain is this: I am not surprised some people willingly allow pain into their lives for a purpose or goal that can’t be achieved without it. I just ran 16 miles yesterday in my training for my first marathon. It was painful afterwards (worse than while running). I KNEW it would be painful. I accepted I would face that pain if I wanted to achieve my goal. That is common and it is understandable.
What is much harder to comprehend, in myself as well as in others, is the pain that you create for yourself when you don’t want it. Why do people sabotage their pursuit of happiness? Why do they see the rocky shoals, know they should avoid it, but decide to flirt with it? Why do we purposely lose sight of the rolling green hills and the warm sun in the distance and the beautiful ocean we are sailing on and decide to focus on the rocks? What draws us to that pain?
What do we gain from that purposeless pain? Seriously, think about it. We aren’t drawn to the rocks without reason. There is a reason, even if we are not aware of it at the time. Maybe childhood, maybe self-loathing, maybe stupidity, who knows. But avoiding that pain is not just having a ‘happiness’ goal ahead of you, it’s also understanding how that pain brings you some perverted sense of happiness, how it fulfills you, why you need it.
Learn that and you are going to be the better pilot when you come close to those rocky shores.
Drawing and commentary © Marty Coleman=
“The art of life is the art of avoiding pain; and he is the best pilot who steers clear of the rocks and shoals with which it is beset.” – Thomas Jefferson, 1743-1826, 3rd US president, author of the American Declaration of Independence
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It’s geographic Sunday!
In the last month The Napkin Dad Daily has been read in 34 different countries, including:
Sofia, Bulgaria
Algiers, Algeria
Tel Aviv, Israel
Doha, Qatar
Windhoek, Namibia
Luxembourg, Luxembourg
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Helsinki, Finland
>Very, very interesting. Seeking out pain for no reason sounds a bit crazy, doesn't it? But then again, you can't go through life without taking a risk or two and falling on your head once in a while. I mean, you can, but that isn't my idea of happiness or adventure. "Purposeless pain" versus "calculated pain" — I think you nailed it, Napkin Dad 🙂