A Benefit Of Trials

One of the things practically everyone can relate to is suffering of some kind.  Private emotional or psychological struggles, an inability to experience things other people talk about, financial difficulties, epistemological limitations, abuse, relationships that did not turn out as one would have needed or wished--there are many forms that trials can take, and making it through life without facing at least some of them is all but impossible.  One of the primary benefits for people who have endured great suffering and not shied away from it, ironically, is self-awareness and even a capacity for strong relationships with others who have suffered.  By being willing to discuss and honestly put forth one's current or past trials, people can benefit each other in unexpected or incredibly deep ways.

There could almost always be someone or a small group of people experiencing trials that either no one or almost no one else can relate to, perhaps even across all of human history, but at least even then, if they are open about their suffering, they can either help others who might go through the same thing eventually or inspire people in their own separate trials.  After all, the burdens of life as a Christian or non-Christian can be utterly crushing when coupled with relational isolation.  For rationalists, alleviating misery through catharsis by being open with fellow rationalists and celebrating victories over lasting or major trials is only enhanced by the fact that they alone can understand trials and the personal depths of their own heart without slavery to assumptions.  There is greater depth to them and their realizations and interactions with others, and in this case, part of it emerges as a benefit of trials.

Even non-rationalists can find, however, that the presence of other people with whom one can talk freely about the burdens of life can be very liberating.  They cannot understand the nature of trials or their personal reactions to them to the same extent as rationalists can, of course, but the deep healing or relief of sharing what one is going through is not accessible only to rationalists.  This is sometimes the only way to intentionally, preemptively solve certain problems that people would have to experience in all of their harshness before only possibly finding a solution on the other side.  Though they lack the ideological and introspective stability of rationalists, non-rationalists can partake in this much.

This is one of the grand ramifications of how we handle trials.  The fact that we suffer can sometimes mean that other people do not have to, or that they can find more relief amidst their suffering than they otherwise could have through personal connections that help them weather their difficulties or through the sharing of information that could resolve certain problems.  Although this is only a helpful side effect of the suffering that almost everyone would simply prefer had never been there in the first place, this is one way to make the most of life's unavoidable struggles.  In a life like this, troubles could spring up at any moment, and there is always the potential for one trial to become worse than the last.  Openness with others and, most vitally, rationality, along with valid philosophical beliefs, are the obvious keys to endurance.