“What’s suffering, daddy?” Asked 5-year old Aeva the other night.
“Suffering is when you have to go through things you don’t like,” Her daddy said. “And you still have to finish it.”
“Oh, so you just have to roll with it,” the kid said.
“Yeah,” I said. “Roll with it is a good way to describe it.”
“Like learning and finishing your homework,” I said. “It’s not your most favorite thing in the world. But you know you must finish it anyway. The key is to roll with it.”
“Like don’t complain?” She asked.
Yeah. Like not complain too much,” I answered. “Because if you pout or scream or cry or shout, that won’t take the suffering away. You will just feel sadder.”
“Ah,” she nodded.
“So next time, just get it over and done with. Stop complaining. You can suffer happily, or suffer badly. But you still have to go through it,” I advised.
“So what’s suffering for you, Mommy?” She asked.
“Suffering is me 3 hours sitting beside you to finish your homework when you can be done in 30 minutes,” I answered. “I can complain but complaining won’t get you to finish it faster.”
She nodded.
Another life lesson, check – Teach kids how to not run away from suffering. Instead, just roll with it. Get it over and done with so you can move on to the next.
