There is a famous Buddhist saying: Pain is Inevitable. Suffering is Optional and an equally well-known Buddhist parable that extends on this idea.

The parable goes like this:
The Buddha once asked a student “If a person is struck by an arrow, is it painful?” The students replied “it is”. The Buddha then asked, “If the person is struck by a second arrow, is that even more painful?” The student replied again “it is.” The Buddha then explained “In life, we cannot always control the first arrow. However, the second arrow is our reaction to the first. And with this second arrow comes the possibility of choice.”

The purpose of this parable is to assist us in managing our suffering more skilfully and it has the potential (if we can wrap our minds around this idea) to be live changing.

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