"There is a great deal of pain in life and perhaps the only pain that can be avoided is the pain that comes from trying to avoid pain"
- R. D. Laing
About this Quote
This quote by R. D. Laing speaks with the idea that discomfort is an inescapable part of life. No matter how hard we try to prevent it, it will always exist. The only discomfort that can be avoided is the pain that originates from trying to prevent discomfort. This suggests that when we attempt to prevent discomfort, we often end up triggering ourselves more pain at the same time. For instance, if we attempt to avoid a challenging conversation, we might wind up feeling more nervous and stressed out.
The quote likewise suggests that we should accept discomfort as part of life and find out to cope with it. Attempting to avoid discomfort can be a futile effort and can result in more suffering. Instead, we need to concentrate on finding ways to handle our pain and utilize it as an opportunity to grow and discover. By accepting discomfort as part of life, we can discover to live with it and find ways to make it more bearable.
"Tomorrow is the most important thing in life. Comes into us at midnight very clean. It's perfect when it arrives and it puts itself in our hands. It hopes we've learned something from yesterday"