The Art of Suffering How it can actually help us

succeed

“Out of suffering have emerged the strongest souls; the most massive characters are seared with scars.”

--Khalil Gibran (BrainyQuote)

Scientific Evidence• “Post-traumatic

growth”– The suffering of

traumatic life-events can lead to personal development • People actually gained

some significant benefits from the suffering they experiencedSteve Taylor, “Can suffering make us stronger?”

Psychology Today, Web.

• Study at NY’s University of Buffalo– Study control group made up of 2,398

people suffering from chronic back pain. – Those with some past adversities were

less functionally impaired compared to those with a great deal of past trauma or no major traumas at all

Tibi Puiu, “Going through tough times makes you stronger, study says.” Z M E Science. Dec. 17, 2011.

Just enough diversity can help a person cope with daily living better

Susan Kuchinskas. “Emotional Well-being: the benefits of adversity.” WebMD Magazine. Web.

Best copers: Just enough adversity

Worst copers: Having as many as 15 stressors a day

Ok copers: People who are never challenged by adversity

Real life heroes• Nelson Mandela – “I learned that courage was not the

absence of fear but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid but he who conquers that fear.”

– Spent over 27 years in prison then became first black president of South Africa

• President Abraham Lincoln– Experienced severe depression

throughout lifetime– Josh Shenk, Lincoln biographer,

wrote “He was sad, often withdrawing into himself but it gave him the vision to look beyond the horrors of the Civil War toward a greater good. In times of great crisis, it may be the strongest character forged for leadership.”

“Lincoln’s melancholy: how depression challenged a president and fueled his greatness.” NAMI. September 2005. Web.

• Friedrich Nietzsche, German philosopher– Suffered mental breakdown at age 45– Believed it made him a better

philosopher• “I doubt whether such suffering improves a

man; but I know that it makes him deeper.”

Steve Taylor, “Can suffering make us stronger?” Psychology Today, Web.

Lessons from Comic books• Nearly every comic book

superhero experienced trauma or tragedy that led them to become “super” in some way– Superman– Spiderman– Batman

These stories have endured because people need to believe that the suffering life throws at us can make us stronger if only we let it.

It is choosing to use it as a positive that makes all the difference.