Episode 8 - Calluses For The Soul

You may not be aware of this, but one attribute of Suffering is that it’s a learned skill. That probably sounds odd, but it’s true nevertheless. You get better at Suffering the more you do it. It’s not a skill that’s perfected overnight. Actually, it’s not a skill that’s ever perfected. You get better at it, but perfection is not really a thing. You need to practice Suffering. You have to intentionally add Suffering to your life. Also, this isn’t done simply for the raw and bare sake of Suffering, but the intention is to add calluses, toughness, to your soul. When we endure Suffering we heal tougher, stronger, more durable than we were prior to the experience. The soul, the mind, is very similar to our skin and muscles. When you work hard with your hands it’s common to develop calluses once the skin heals. The layer of skin that replaces to previous layer is tougher, more durable, better able and more capable to handle harder future workloads. It’s a new protective layer of skin meant to be prepared to handle the work that’s asked of it next time. When you endure mental stress your mind begins to harden, get tougher, be better prepared for more strenuous work in the future. I call this calluses for the soul.