What is the purpose of suffering?

By nature, I am an inquisitive person, I want to know how things work, what different religions believe, what made the great men in history so great. I spend my time reading everything from Ancient Philosophy to newly released books covering current events and people. Something that is discussed often in the books I have read is suffering. It is something that has existed since the beginning of time. When you stop and think about it all life in this universe seems to go through some kind of suffering. Let me expand on that a little. Would you not consider a long hot summer drought to cause suffering to the plants? Does a mudslide off the side of the mountain and into a stream not cause the fish to suffer that are merely trying to navigate and feed in the now murky water? Therefore, I believe suffering comes in all forms, and it can be felt by every living thing in some shape or form.

From my experiences throughout life, I believe there is balance in the universe. We have up and its opposite down. There is cold and hot, light and dark, good and bad, fact and fiction. There has to be an opposite force to counteract everything. With that being said I also believe there are levels to all of those things. For instance, you have luke warm water, it is not hot, but it isn’t cold either. There are different amounts of light put out by each light producing source in the universe. There are different levels to anger, happiness, and sadness. In our own feelings we have fluctuations, and opposites to each feeling. If we can find this kind of balance in many other instances throughout the entire universe, then can we not use reason to conclude that suffering would also come in fluctuations and opposite to things like success? With that logic would it not be safe to say that the purpose of suffering is to give reference and serve as an opposite to thriving?

I feel that suffering offers the same for our soul that a rainy day does for the flowers that grow and blossom in the sunshine that follows. It makes us realize how beautiful thriving is. When it is raining outside, I am sure there is a part of all of us that are glad the rain has come. It makes the grass turn green and the air smells fresher. That first day of rain is amazing, sitting on the porch listing to it bounce off of everything is one of my all-time favorite parts of life. Yet after a few days of rain, I am ready for it to stop and wishing for the sunshine to return. Going through struggles and suffering is a way for our spirits grow. While rain makes the flowers grow, too much rain will hurt them; the same applies to us and struggles. When people go through struggles, they often come out the other side hardened much like steel when it’s been put to the fire and then quenched. Even though the hardened steel is often made into a weapon, so is the mind hardened by suffering. A person who has suffered is often more aware not only of their surroundings but of their current situation. This allows them to be more resilient when facing adverse conditions in the future.

I supposed my short answer to the question is the purpose of suffering is to show us we have the ability to push through and survive any conditions. It’s there to teach us that as long as we have a heart beating in our chests then we can make it to better days. Most importantly I supposed is that it gives us something to compare thriving to.