Mohamad-Ali Salloum is a Pharmacist and science writer. He loves simplifying science to the general public and healthcare students through words and illustrations. When he's not working, you can usually find him in the gym, reading a book, or learning a new skill.
What if we are meant to suffer in life?
Mohamad-Ali Salloum, PharmD • December 13, 2022
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What if we got life wrong?
We are not meant to enjoy life…
How about, we are meant to enjoy suffering through life?
All our lives, we are told to search for our happiness. But happiness can only be found at the corner, and we are in the circle of life.
Thus, chasing happiness will only lead us to dissatisfaction and being lost.
Even physically, we are not meant to be happy always, otherwise, in excess of dopamine, we will suffer from schizophrenia.
When we are happy, we release serotonin, dopamine, and other molecules. But we don’t have infinite stores of these molecules. They need to be recycled. And thus, we go back to our baseline state or sadness.
One way to avoid deep sadness is that we need to learn to enjoy the darkness. It will not only make the dark time pass faster, but it will also prevent this dark period from dragging you to the irreversible place; DEPRESSION.
Realizing this concept- enjoying the suffering- is very important as it teaches us that there is always light at the end of the tunnel. The only way to go through it is to acknowledge the feelings and convert the energy to something useful.
If you are angry or sad, go to the gym and channel this energy into lifting and exhaust yourself physically. You will no longer be angry or sad.
Emotions sometimes are deceptive; you don’t have to listen “always” to your emotions.
That's why who depend on motivation to do their work or go to the gym will never get the required results. They lack discipline.
You can always turn the feeling of "suffering or sadness" into something useful. Learn to channel this energy and see how eventually the outcomes will turn for you.
Let me give you a quick example.
I wrote this article while walking on a treadmill in the gym. A couple of hours ago I was feeling down, not knowing the reason why. Nonetheless, I went to the gym and forced myself into movement. Little by little, my mood started shifting from being down to enthusiasm and motivation again to continue working on what I love to do.
And that’s how ignoring your temporary feelings, in another words "discipline" , can save your day.
Forcing yourself to do things YOU KNOW is good for you- but at the moment you don’t feel like doing- will lead to a positive feedback effect.
If I went to sleep today without doing something that will make me feel good (like going to the gym), this will definitely extend to tomorrow and will ruin tomorrow’s workflow as well.
I went from “why does all this matter” to “f**k yeah, let’s rule the world”.
I hope you got the point I’m trying to say.
Just force yourself to move more.
“Do” in life more than you “think”.
Don’t trust always your temporary feelings, but trust your intuition (which are two separate things) and learn how to enjoy your suffering and turn it into something useful!
Now, excuse me, I m going to run on the treadmill as I’ve never run before.😎
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Mohamad-Ali Salloum, PharmD
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References: Qiang S, Wu J, Zheng D, et al. The effect of stress mindset on psychological pain: the chain mediating roles of cognitive reappraisal and self-identity. Front Psychol. 2025;16. 1 Bosshard M, Gomez P. Effectiveness of stress arousal reappraisal and stressisenhancing mindset interventions on task performance outcomes: a meta-analysis. Sci Rep. 2024. 2 Zhao S, Chen P, Jin L, et al. Unlocking Emotional Well-Being: Evaluation of a Stress Mindset Intervention With a Metacognitive Approach. Emotion. 2025;25(5):1169–1184. 4 Meyer HH, Stutts LA. The Effect of Mindset Interventions on Stress and Academic Motivation in College Students. Innov High Educ. 2024;49:783–798. 7 Crum AJ, Santoro E, Handley-Miner I, et al. Evaluation of the “Rethink Stress” Mindset Intervention: A Metacognitive Approach to Changing Mindsets. J Exp Psychol Gen. 2023. 3 Laferton JAC, Fischer S, Ebert DD, et al. The Effects of Stress Beliefs on Daily Affective Stress Responses. Ann Behav Med. 2020;54(4):258–267. 5 UCSF Stress Measurement Network. Beliefs about Stress . 2026. 6
References: Qiang S, Wu J, Zheng D, et al. The effect of stress mindset on psychological pain: the chain mediating roles of cognitive reappraisal and self-identity. Front Psychol. 2025;16. 1 Bosshard M, Gomez P. Effectiveness of stress arousal reappraisal and stressisenhancing mindset interventions on task performance outcomes: a meta-analysis. Sci Rep. 2024. 2 Zhao S, Chen P, Jin L, et al. Unlocking Emotional Well-Being: Evaluation of a Stress Mindset Intervention With a Metacognitive Approach. Emotion. 2025;25(5):1169–1184. 4 Meyer HH, Stutts LA. The Effect of Mindset Interventions on Stress and Academic Motivation in College Students. Innov High Educ. 2024;49:783–798. 7 Crum AJ, Santoro E, Handley-Miner I, et al. Evaluation of the “Rethink Stress” Mindset Intervention: A Metacognitive Approach to Changing Mindsets. J Exp Psychol Gen. 2023. 3 Laferton JAC, Fischer S, Ebert DD, et al. The Effects of Stress Beliefs on Daily Affective Stress Responses. Ann Behav Med. 2020;54(4):258–267. 5 UCSF Stress Measurement Network. Beliefs about Stress . 2026. 6
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