https://pixabay.com/photos/arrow-bow-archery-objectives-tense-2534204/
In a world where people rarely listen to each other, much is said without even listening to what the other side has just said. Or even making an effort to understand why the other person said what they said. We are just in a hurry to counter what we have just heard. And the arguments are not even solid. Only our conviction that we are always sure and certain of ourselves often leads us to act without thinking too much.
And strange as it may seem, this reaction sometimes ends up being more harmful to ourselves than to those we are addressing....
I will try to explain the situation of the two arrows here...
Two arrows are shot at us whenever we live or experience an unfavorable situation.
When the first arrow hits us, we feel pain.
The second arrow is our reaction to the first, and it is this reaction that creates suffering.
The first arrow is not shot by us. It is a situation that happens, and that depends little or nothing on our will or our spirit.
I will give a very simple and clear example. A person who is very dear to us betrays our trust... At that moment, an arrow is directed at us when we perceive this betrayal by someone so important to us.
When we perceive this, pain arises. This pain comes from the arrow that has just been shot in our direction and has hit us squarely. Like any arrow that pierces our skin, pierces our muscles, and sometimes even breaks some bones, it will cause a lot of pain.
The way we react to this betrayal will be the second arrow. It is not shot by anyone else but ourselves.
This second arrow, which is also directed at us, creates suffering.
And we cannot always control the first arrow, as is obvious. No one ever goes through this experience unscathed. We may not give these arrows the importance they deserve, but there is no doubt that they will hit us and cause us pain.
However, we can control the second arrow, which is our reaction to the first.
Hence the saying:
“Pain is inevitable, but suffering is optional.”
Free image from Pixabay.com
