We can choose to think that nothing will go wrong. Or we can choose to learn that when things are painful, we are meant to look at how pain and distress hasten us along the path to setting our sights upon immense magnitude. What does this mean? It means that in approaching immensity of an order that is indescribable, we have no choice but to look at as well as go through abject limitedness. We do so when we near the end of our lives if we are lucky in the form of infirmity and loss of ability. Why is this? Because the possibility of limitedness is ever present. Fresh chances arise only after passing through a state of limitedness. This is so that we can learn to appreciate that extreme limitedness is not only a possibility but our only reality until we recognize the value of freedom from states of being. There is no other way to begin to apprehend magnitude that is far beyond any state that it is possible to be in.
All this might appear nonsensical. But think about it. Why is there pain and suffering, and the prospect of these looming over us? Simply because, it reminds us that the value of acquiring freedom has itself to be seen, felt and comprehended. Only then can we set about acquiring this freedom. This acquisition or the lack of it permeates every element that constitutes our systems. What does this mean? It means that true freedom is a property that is reflected in not only what we are and do but in every possible state that we can possibly inhabit. So the lessons we have no choice but to learn, we learn, no matter how hard it is and how long it takes.
In that manner the suffering of sickness, old age, separation and such are like keys to a lock. If we are lucky, we arrive at these locks in the proper time and we have to arm ourselves with the right keys. Lasting freedom is that difficult to acquire. And not only that, for lasting freedom, we have to go through many, many such iterations. The acquisition of lasting freedom is a process that takes us all the way to approaching this overarching magnitude, and whatever suffering we have allows us the chance to get hold of keys that will finally open the locks that will permit us to enter the path upon which there is no turning back anymore.