Most of the negative respondents seemed to feel that the author was saying, "let people suffer, it's good." On the contrary, I took from the article what I already knew to be a truth. When we endure pain or suffering, we CAN become someone better. We can grow as humans. We can find our limits and know how to better use our skills, talents, and hearts.
What I think the author probably knew but failed to articulate is an emphasis on the concept of "can." I've written about the concept of adventure. Some have recently written on my Facebook page that yesterday's misfortune is today's adventure. Although that might be largely true, I think it falls back on the concept of "can." You see, suffering and adventure are concepts that are largely dependent upon attitude.
First off, do we open ourselves up for pain and misfortune to become possible? Had I not been on a motorcycle crossing a mountain pass in Montana on April 4, I would never have gotten stuck there. Was I just stupid or did I not understand the risks involved with what I chose to do? Actually, I knew exactly how it could go down. Not only that, I knew what the worst case scenario could be which is much much worse than what did indeed happen. I chose the situation anyway. I took with me tools in the form of a good bike and better gear, but also skills. I have honed my abilities to be able to not only handle the bike, but also to make good decisions, like the one to turn the bike off and leave it on the mountain overnight.
Secondly, what do we do with pain and suffering. First off, I don't think pain MUST lead to suffering. Suffering by definition should be understood to have an attitudinal element. Suffering is how we feel about the pain, how much it affects us. Yes, I have felt some pretty significant pain and as a matter of fact have some sort of pain every single day. I do NOT however feel that I am suffering. But, even if the pain brings suffering (which even those with the best attitudes will still experience) there is an attitude component. Now that we are suffering, what are we going to do about it?
As a counselor I am continually learning more and more about how different people deal with life. At this point, I am not convinced that everyone even CAN endure pain without suffering or go through suffering and get much good from it. I'm not sure that everyone CAN ride through a deer and patch their bike together and keep going in a competitive situation for days, like Bob did a few years ago. I'm not sure that everyone CAN go sliding through a field at 80 mph then get back on their bike and ride 450 miles home like I did. I don't believe we are all wired to endure things like that let alone the trials of our special forces soldiers and sailors or professional athletes. As a matter of fact, a huge part of what separates professional athletes from the rest of us is that they will endure the work and the pain that it takes to get to the level of performance they are at. (Yes, there are some that have such high natural ability that they can virtually skate through even professional level competition.)
So, yes, without some misfortune or at least challenge, it might be hard to call a motorcycle ride an adventure. But, it still isn't adventure until you respond to it. Nor is the inherent value (or lack thereof) in pain and suffering evident until we respond. We CAN gain something from our trials. It may not offset the pain or negativity of the trial, but there CAN be SOMETHING good. The questions are will we open ourselves up to be vulnerable or try to always protect against every little bump and bruise? And what will we do with it when we do endure pain?