There’s an old folk warning that if you throw a frog in boiling water he will quickly jump out. But if you put a frog in a pan of cold water and raise the temperature ever so slowly, the gradual warming will make the frog doze happily . . . in fact, the frog will eventually cook to death, without ever waking up.

While, indeed, this may be a ‘old folk tale’, it is also a helpful metaphor. Just like the frog, many of us have slowly, over time, developed a tremendously high toleration for suffering — needlessly suffering, I might add.

Our Capacity to Suffer

Now, don’t get me wrong, I do realize that inherent in the nature of life and being alive, there will be times when we feel a certain amount of angst, anxiety, and sadness — I. E. suffering.

And the living on purpose doesn’t mean you’ll never feel down, or even occasionally depressed.

At the same time, so many people have taken on a lot more suffering in their life than they need to, and like the frog have steeped themselves in it to the point that they are for all intent and purposes — dead.

And it’s so not necessary to suffer this way.

On top of all this, many people have also become really clever about coming up with an assortment of different ways to numb the pain — not that the pain goes away…we just keep it under the surface by numbing ourselves to it. Here are some of the common numbing agents we use:

• Workaholism — staying frenetically busy so we don’t take time to be with ourselves, because we’re afraid of what we’ll find within ourselves.

• Shop ’til you drop — a favorite American past time and often a numbing agent. Starting to feel bad, or depressed? Go out and buy something for yourself. No matter that you don’t need what you buy. It will still give you at least a momentary high.

• Overindulging in video games, television and/or the internet — sure, these can all be fun and entertaining in moderation, but if you’re using any of these to fill up your time rather than to take time to go within, watch out.

And of course, there are more. The point is, I really want you to know that so much of the suffering that you may be experiencing is unnecessary, as is the need to numb yourself from it.

So, why not give living on purpose a shot? Download your copy of, Life On Purpose: Six Passages to an Inspired Life excerpt. (Opens new window)

Or, you may want to start by getting a clearer sense of how on or off purpose your life currently is by taking the Life On Purpose Self Test. It will only take a few minutes to evaluate yourself, and if you find yourself scoring lower than you like, you can then take the next step and download the book excerpt.