Tincture: pain and suffering

Steeped in soul's deep waters

Seeping leaves whose fragrance yields

Reminders for the latter

Drink of sorrow’s bitterness

Tinged, once it imbues

Impressing on my senses

Pain’s taste and residue

Searing in my memory

The why, I’m suffering

So when I near the trigger ’gain

I fear that which it brings

Of pain is ...

Gratitude for that which you have

The joy of waking another day

Another chance to complete more memorable moments with loved ones

Watch your children grow;

Mature into better versions of yourselves

Fearless and bold

Colourful

Bright

Sages

That which we extract from pain

Is that sharp, brusque reminder

That you are still able to connect with others

And yourself

And learn from your missteps

Able to appreciate the small things

Like the smell of summer.

You know the smells I mean

Such as freshly mown lawns

Flowers and trees in bloom

Another Life blossoming with promise

Yet to explore some of that which

You have already been graced with perceiving

Life is not over until you stop dreaming

And even then

It only stops

If you leave not a legacy behind and regret at your passing

As opposed to remorse for your existence

And relief at the permanence of your quietude

That is what we are supposed to extract from pain.

I’m not sure.

Which is pleasure?

Which is pain?

Pleasure is the one we are meant to enjoy, right?

But which one is that?

I know one starts out

With ‘nice’ feelings.

But they usually turn to hurt.

The other one feels like burning, sometimes.

An intense, burning soaring through my body,

Raising me high

Above this dismal world

Making me scream with power

And joy.

I am king!

I am king!

They are the same.

Pleasure Pain.

Pain is simply a nervous system response to something wrong with your body. You’ve been cut, bruised, broken. You’ve been sitting, standing, or working too long. Your eyes are tired. Your stomach is empty. Disease has infiltrated your systems. You need help.

You need to change something.

Whether you ignore it, work through it, or pay attention to it, the pain isn’t really the cause of your suffering. It’s just the messenger. Like an indicator light in your car, alerting you in case you might veer off the road. Maybe the symptom is minor - or maybe the small aches and twinges add up to something more sinister, more severe. Either way the choice is yours.

What can you change?

It could be a chronic problem or habit, manifesting itself from years of wear and tear on your bones. Or it could be a simple fix, a one time crisis to handle and heal from. Maybe it’s a mental block, triggered by trauma rather than actual physical causes. It could mean losing part of yourself, and letting go of something diseased or unresponsive to your body’s calls. You have to listen to the pain to find out.

But once you do - can you really change?

Perhaps it’s too late for you. You’ve ignored the warning signs and now you’re too far gone for repairs. It could be there’s nothing for it, no medical marvel or cure-all for what ails you. Or maybe this is your last chance - a wake up call to start taking steps away from danger and the consequences that lie ahead.

Can you really afford not to change, is the question.

Because otherwise we remain fixated on our pain, on the strange sensation that creeps into our skin and takes root in our psyche. We allow it to settle in and grow, becoming our excuse or our cross. “Sorry,” we’ll say, when in reality we hear the clanging siren call to do something - anything - rather than stay the path.

At the end of the day is it really the pain we recoil from -- or is it the change that pain requires us to make?

To anybody who has seen the sun, who has a government, who's searching for purpose--

Ever felt like you were trying to get somewhere but didn't quite know where that somewhere is? Thought that since you're older you should get a handle on yourself and know better? In this modern age of media, we're constantly bombarded with ideas that we don't completely understand or simply don't agree with or know what to do with. We think that our authourities are doing a rather poor job and change is the only way to go. That change is our duty as citizens. I'm not saying we shouldn't take advantage of what we have to make our voice known in this world of chaos. But it doesn't really help us get closer to that somewhere.

We have the materials to do great help, or devastating harm. From the hands that create life-saving medicine also come missiles and bombs. We might think that it's crazy! or that we can do what we want as long as it's "right." While there are some people living in luxury, others are starving and homeless. Not saying that the wealthy shouldn't be. Just that we often find that completely unfair. There are pros and cons to both life of plenty and life of little. We want to save, to bring life to the broken and beaten down. But we can't do that properly until we come to terms with ourselves first.

That said, definitely fight for your beliefs! Freedom of belief is something everyone should have. Stand up for those whose lives are being shoved aside. It can be frustrating, as it seems that others see our actions but don't do anything about it. It won't be quick change, but don't get discouraged. Just because the first attempt fails doesn't mean that there's no hope. We CAN bring truth.

For those of us who have lost people due to the "system", we have found suffering. And have gotten angry and resentful about what happened, about what's not being stopped. Feeling that way does nothing, but it should be acknowledged that mercy is necessary.

It seems that we are quickly moving toward a society that's even farther along than the Modern Age. While we should move on with the country, we should still hold to what traditional beliefs and actions that have kept our countries together throughout the ages. It's okay to break away from the movements of modern society and stay where you wish to believe.

There are so many awful things in this world. Abandoned children, sickness and death, war, drugs, bankruptcy, starvation, divorces. But through it all, we're still breathing, we're still alive. Yes, we're broken by the storms of life, but there's always light amidst the wreckage, even if it's far away. Give yourselves credit for staying here.

Those that we love--we never want them to leave. But when they do, we often have no idea where to go from there. We just stand in the middle of the road... and wait. Wait for something to happen. It seems that we're just tossed around in an entranced world where no reality seems true. We don't have to live in the dream, but stay grounded in this world.

This is a shattered world we live in. Millions are crying out to be heard, and they are being ignored or brutally crushed. Every new day comes without our permission, it just comes.

If we think, we can solve? Right? Hmmm.... Sitting alone in our thoughts, in our memories, wishing it would all just be gone. But we're standing at the edge, looking over the rim, lost in our mind. Light and darkness in one. We don't need to follow the template to achieve "the good life." Don't we all want to die knowing we've had and given the best and most we could? We don't need to think about tomorrow, do what matters in the moment.

Can we find the city of shining lights on earth? Can we leave a buried treasure behind when we think we don't have much to give? What we have is more than enough to make a difference in this ordinary world.

Pain

Is a part of me

It's something I've grown used to

Over the years

And it never abates; never ceases, never leaves me

Not even for a second.

It eats away at me

Chews me up and spits me out

But it's not like

I'm not used to it any more

When it's been with me for so long, it's no longer surprising

No longer enough to knock me off my feet

Or leave me gasping for air

It is simply there

Constantly

And it will never stop

But that doesn't make me a

Lifeless

Breathless

Shell of a human being

It makes me strong

Stronger than I realize

But whenever I try to excercize that strength

It seems average to me

With the painful physical barrier in place

So much force remains hidden away

Kept in store

For a single instance

Just one time

To surge past the dam and flood out

It is just waiting.

Pain causes a difficult time in life. It is unbearable when it happens. All scenes ceased to work its normal function. Brain concentrates on it as an emergency. Every organ of the body engages on it and strives to relieve it. It reveals that the body is connected. Actually, the body always strives for a painless life. Time after pain becomes so sweet that it is sweeter than anything. Pain does not leave anything it just goes. It is just null and void. Life is so amusing in that voids. If we think deeply pain does leave anything. It leaves the capacity to bear the pain. Pain kills pain that is likely to come in every stage of life. Extract of pain actually is pain reliever itself. Life without pain is painful too.