Those Things That Hurt, Instruct.

“Those things that hurt, instruct” - Benjamin Franklin.

Problems are the cutting edge that distinguishes between success and failure. They create our courage and our wisdom. It’s only because of problems that we grow mentally and spiritually.

It is through the pain of confronting and resolving problems that we learn. It is for this reason that wise people learn not to dread but actually to welcome problems and actually to welcome the pain of problems.

This tendency to avoid problems and the emotional suffering inherent in them is the primary basis of all human mental illness. The substitute itself ultimately becomes more painful than the legitimate suffering it was designed to avoid. When we avoid the legitimate suffering that results from dealing with problems, we also avoid the growth that problems demand from us.

Let us teach ourselves and our children the necessity for suffering and the value thereof, the need to face problems directly and to experience the pain involved.

Discipline is the basic set of tools we require to solve life’s problems. There are four techniques of suffering that author calls discipline: delaying of gratification, acceptance of responsibility, dedication to truth, and balancing.

Notes from “The Road Less Traveled” by M. Scott Peck, M.D.