Jerry Seinfeld is always working on material. Every conversation he has, every event he sees, everything that goes on around, he thinks to himself, is this something that I could use? His mind is never not on comedy. To be working, or thinking about working, at every moment of every day, sounds tortuous. But as he explained,
“The blessing in life is when you find the torture you are comfortable with. That’s marriage, it’s kids, it’s work, it’s exercise. Find the torture you’re comfortable with and you’ll do well. You’ve mastered that, you’ve mastered life.”
Suffering is an inevitable part of the human experience. The point is not to avoid suffering, it’s what writer Brianna West explained, “It’s not about what pain you suffer; it’s about what you suffer for.”
Suffering for the sake of suffering is insanity. You’re going to suffer, might as well make that suffering geared toward something that matters to you. A purpose. A goal. An aspiration.
Woody Allen, starting in 1965, has been making about a film a year. He loves writing. He loves casting. He despises filming. The whole process disgusts him. “Making the film is a bit of a struggle, but I’d rather with the film than other things.”
No matter what you do, no matter how much you love something, struggling will be present. Physically. Emotionally. Mentally. Spiritually. It’s about finding something that touches your soul--the things that make going through the physical pain, the mental battles, and the emotional rollercoaster worth it.
If the struggle feels like a burden, it’s for the wrong things. The pain you go through needs to have a sense of excitement, not because it’s fun and enjoyable, but because of what it will bring you when you get through it.
As much as Woody despises the filming process, he understands it's the final part of completing what he loves to do--making movies and telling stories. It’s not a burden, it’s a privilege because it provides a reward.
The question you need to ask yourself is not how to avoid pain, but what pain you want in your life. What struggles do you want to face? What battles do you want to battle? What pain do you want to endure?
If the struggle is unavoidable, avoid struggling for something that has no meaning to you. To suffer for the sake of suffering is to live your life for something outside of your deepest desires, to give away the gift and opportunity only a fortunate few are given.
Suffer for something that’s special to you, because suffering is always going to be there.
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