Ironically, the best way to limit life’s pain is to accept that some pain is necessary. Accept that life is full of problems, and that it is through the pain of resolving these problems, that we learn and grow. Since Thanksgiving is a time set aside for gratitude most people tend to focus on what the mind perceives to be good, like the love of family, good friends and health to mention a few. However, what about the challenges and pain that life brings. Can you see the value of these gifts on this glorious holiday? Can you see the blessings that pain has brought you, the life lessons and the wisdom?

It is nice that we set aside a holiday to acknowledge our gratitude, but for me every day is a day to find gratitude and to be grateful. And yes, gratitude for my family, friends, the work I do and the love I receive from so many people. Furthermore, all the other things my mind perceives as good but I make an extra effort to see the blessings in my life challenges. By changing my perception about what my mind might thinks is bad, I have learned to recognize the blessings that pain and problems bring. This awareness has begun to shorten suffering in my life when my mind perceives something as bad.

This obviously takes practice and commitment to want to change how you perceive and experience the world. You are changing the way you have thought for most of your life, so be patient with yourself and know that you may not remember to do it every single time. Just recognize each time that you have forgotten, and then remember that you have a choice in how you perceive what you are going through. Recall experiences from your past where you suffered and then later recognized that you learned something positive from that situation or experience. Recalling such experiences over time will help retrain your mind to first think about a perceived negative experience in a new way.

The good news is that it works; the good news is that you can limit your suffering or eliminate suffering by seeing the lessons that pain and problems bring us.

We are all here to learn, grow and change, so embrace change; embrace pain and problems as part of your life because resistance of what is will only increase your suffering. “What you resist will persist and intensify.”

May this Thanksgiving bring you much love, health and happiness.; may it also bring you a new understanding of why we experience pain and have problems in our life so that you may suffer less, love more and live a life full of gratitude. In Love and Light, Tim