why do people suffer? Why do bad things happen to good people?

People suffer for many different reason and bad things happen to you whether you are a good or bad person. If you’re a good person, why do you suffer? Why do bad things happen to you? There is no distinct answer for either of these questions. I do know that every bad thing that happens to you will bring a change into your life and sometimes it will end up bringing something good. But either way, everything that happens, good or bad, impacts you and changes your life. In the end, life isn’t about finding yourself, it’s about creating yourself and the way you handle bad situations is part of that. Sometimes when bad things happen to good people, it’s because it will somehow be a good thing for someone else.

Take Mitch Albom’s story about Morrie Schwartz for example, Mitch wondered why this happened to such a great man. Every tuesday when Mitch went to visit Morrie, he noticed people would go to see him to say how sorry they were about the news, but would come out hours later crying about their own problems. Because something bad happened to Morrie, it helped all the people that went to visit him including Mitch. It’s very mysterious how these things work but when good people have bad things happen to them it will change other people’s lives.

Suffering is another story, there are different types of suffering. There can be different kinds of physical suffering, but there can also be mental suffering which is what my main topic of discussion will be. Some people self inflict physical suffering and for others no one know why it’s them who suffer instead of someone else. There are people who cause themselves mental suffering as well. as Alan Watts and Sydney, from the “The Pursuit of Happiness is Making Us Miserable” debate, both share a common opinion. People self inflict suffering because we are all in search of happiness and we think we always need more and more to attain it. Every time we get to where we want to be, we set the bar higher once again. “people believe it will be found outside of ourselves but indeed happiness is an inside job not derived by outside circumstances” -Sydney (The pursuit of happiness is making us miserable debate). People who do not understand this concept, which the majority of us don’t, will self inflict pain and suffering. 

Suffering as well as bad things happening impact everyone's lives but what is really important about it is the way you get through it. "Although the world is full of suffering, it is full also of the overcoming of it" -Helen Keller.