With all the focus on success it’s easy to overlook the valuable lessons we can learn from the more difficult parts of our journey. Below, you’ll find some very interesting insights from some of the most fascinating members of the community.
Pamela Diaz
It’s always Me vs. Me. In the tougher moments of my life, my thoughts were constantly filled with ‘If only …’ and ‘I wish …’ I often felt that there was always a missing piece to the puzzle that would perfectly propel me to where I want to be, but that was never the case. Read More>>
Naomi Benson
Suffering has taught me far more about success than success itself ever could. Every setback holds the formula for growth — each mistake, a lesson in resilience and self-understanding. Without suffering, there would be no real sense of accomplishment, and joy wouldn’t carry the same depth or meaning. Read More>>
Erin Dragoo
Humility. Starting this business, I was really betting on myself. I told everyone around me that I had a great idea, and if I make a super cute and Instagrammable store, people will find it no matter where it is. Word of mouth and social media will make me wealthy beyond my wildest dreams. None of those things were true. Read More>>
Tania LaCaria
Suffering taught me so much – I’ve never learned a single lesson from success, even though success is what’s celebrated. Success is a benchmark for having reached a goal but suffering is where growth and opportunity comes from, it’s where life experience is built and those experiences contribute to eventual “success”. That being said, suffering has taught me who I really am. Read More>>
Michael Raiti
There is an Alan watts video called ‘A Chinese Farmer Story’ ~ Alan Watts. I would recomend a listen. It basically tells a story about a farmer where a series of seemingly unfortunate or fortunate events happen to him, when people see him to say that is a such a bad thing or a good thing to have happened he would always say ‘maybe’. Read More>>
Jacquii Leveine
I’ve had very few bouts with suffering because any suffering I did endure was self-inflicted. I’ve learned that suffering results from a lack of faith. My practice teaches me that there are ebbs and flows to life–peaks and valleys. Moments spent in the valley are not meant to punish, but to provide a reprieve, a change in perspective, recalibration. Read More>>
Afua Amoah Kubiti
My simplest response to this question is that suffering has made me a genuine and authentic human being. Suffering taught me resilience in ways success never could. Success showed me what I could do, but suffering revealed who I truly am. Read More>>
Vedantin
Suffering reminds us that we are mortal. We live in the world as limited beings and we victimised by the fluctuations thereof. The pairs of opposites at the environmental, physical, mental and intellectual level have the power to influence our happiness. For a seeker, this suffering strengthens his desire for liberation. Read More>>
Esther Anaya
Suffering teaches you to appreciate, truly appreciate, everything. When you’ve gone through moments of pain, uncertainty, or loss, you learn to see life differently. You stop taking the good days for granted. You recognize the beauty in small wins, in progress, in people who show up for you when things aren’t easy. Read More>>
Christopher Noland
Suffering taught me that life can’t wait — it has to move forward, even when conditions aren’t perfect. It taught me resilience, urgency, and how to turn obstacles into opportunities. Success never gave me that same depth of perspective. Read More>>
Baris yesilbas
Suffering places you in a space you never wanted to be — somewhere unfamiliar, uncomfortable, even unsettling. It forces you to confront yourself, to question your choices and the actions that led you there. But through that pain, you learn, you grow, and you make a silent promise to never fall back into that dark place again. Read More>>
Imran Hasnee
Suffering taught me the profound architecture of the human spirit—a blueprint success could never reveal. Success showers you with light, but it’s a light that can often blind you to everything outside its own glow. It teaches you the rhythm of victory, but it’s a rhythm that can make you deaf to the subtler, more complex melodies of life. Read More>>
Margo
That the two are entwined with one another. That I would not know the feeling of true success without having experienced pain. “Did you ever say yes to a pleasure? Oh my friends, then you also said yes to all pain”. Read More>>
Tanya D
Suffering has taught me a lot about humanity because we all suffer the same. I can’t escape suffering. I can meet it where it is and be open to the lessons from the universe. Read More>>
Amanda Phillips
I think that suffering and success are lessons in two different things and we need to learn both lessons in order to be complete people. Suffering has taught me to value life in ways that I could never otherwise have appreciated. Read More>>
Liz Burns
Suffering has taught me humility in a way that success never could. Early in my career, I remember feeling frustrated when things didn’t go as planned—projects fell through, clients didn’t show up, or opportunities slipped away. At first, I felt discouraged, even a little entitled, like hard work alone should guarantee results. Read More>>
RealYungG
Suffering taught me that when you down on your luck there will be nobody in your corner to help you rebuild yourself but when you are successful everybody comes around to benefit off your success. Read More>>
Heather Liedl
People are everything. They are the image-bearers of God, so whatever brings us closer together, is the greater teacher. Suffering is the stepping stone to compassion. I wholeheartedly believe suffering makes you a better human being (if you don’t become bitter from it). Read More>>Rehanna Loncar
Rehanna Loncar
That real change, real growth, requires pressure. It’s like the olive: it has to be pressed, even crushed, for its oil to flow. That pressing is excruciating, but it’s also transformative. In my life, the seasons of struggle felt unbearable at times, yet they were the very moments where my strength, wisdom, and endurance were revealed. Read More>>
Laura Petrovich-Cheney
Suffering taught me something success never could: how to keep creating even when the outcome is uncertain. Rejection, loss, and disappointment strip things down to their essence. They force you to ask why you’re doing the work in the first place—and for me, the answer has always been that making art is how I make sense of the world. Read More>>
Suzanne White
Success is defined differently for each person, but suffering is the same. The times in my life when I thought that I had reached a perceived level of success, the feelings of happiness or peace that I expected were supposed to come with it didn’t last long or just weren’t there. Read More>>
Laramie Otto
When I started my business I strived for success like we all do of course! However through the struggles I learn the most about myself. If things are great you get comfortable and don’t grow or learn as much. When I was struggling and had dips in my business that is when I learned the most. Read More>>
Christina Romano
Since childhood, I endured trauma I wouldn’t wish on anyone, and for years I struggled to make sense of it. Over time, I realized that suffering builds stamina, grit, and a determination that success alone can’t teach. Read More>>
Jessica Murrah
Suffering taught me who I really am. Walking through divorce, becoming a single mom, trying to hold it all together while quietly falling apart. I struggled. I felt like I was barely treading water. Read More>>
Ashes Bardole
Suffering is the first way in which any human learns. It is the lesson to not touch the hot fire because it burns, psychologically we are wired to learn from suffering as a way of survival. As a buddhist, life is suffering. You will always experience suffering in some way throughout your entire life. Read More>>
Nancy Guberti
Suffering taught me resilience, purpose, and an unyielding drive to seek answers where none seem to exist—lessons that no amount of success could ever impart. Early in my career, I thrived in the fast-paced world of corporate America at Goldman Sachs, navigating complex challenges with confidence. Read More>>
Pranto Podder
Suffering taught me something success never could—that pain, when paired with reflection, creates progress. Success often feels like the destination, but it’s in the hardest moments that I’ve learned the most about myself, my strength, and my resilience. Struggle has forced me to slow down, to look inward, and to grow in ways comfort never demanded. Read More>>
Shacre Jones
Suffering has been my greatest teacher. Success feels good, but it never demanded the kind of transformation that pain did. Suffering stripped away the masks, the pride, and the illusions of control. It forced me to face the wounds I would have rather hidden, and it showed me that true strength isn’t found in what you accomplish it’s found in what you survive and overcome. Read More>>
Nataline Ruth Cruz
Suffering turned a blister into a callous. So, it toughened me up. Suffering also softened me. So, I have more compassion for others. Suffering slowed me down, so I now understand patience. Suffering took me to my death. So, now I understand surrender. People are always trying to avoid suffering. But suffering is where all the knowledge lies. To suffer is to live. Read More>>
Roman Pastucha
Referring back to the handburn, a sense of time was contemplated far more throughly through suffering than success provided. I think suffering forges wisdom. It’s authentic, sincere. Something you just can’t cheat, fake. it come’s with the territory. You can learn knowledge but wisdom has to be earned. Read More>>
Shanae Cooper-Robinson
Suffering and adversities taught me how to work harder to change my circumstances. It also helped me to develop my character , gain emotional and psychological strength as well as to be resilient , and never give up when the tide of life rages. Read More>>
Rachael Kennedy
During the pandemic I lost my fiancé, my dad came out as trans and my parents got divorced, I got sober, and lost my mom to a 5 week battle with lung cancer one year after that. Read More>>
Dave Tourjé
Struggle teaches you persistence and strength. Suffering teaches you humility and gratefulness. Success teaches you the power of possibility. Read More>>
Zippora Karz
Dancing was my life. I loved it with all my heart. After my diagnosis of Type 1 diabetes- I never felt I reached my original potential as a dancer. While I did rise to soloist with the NYC Ballet, there were many years of suffering on a physical level as well as mental and emotional. Read More>>
