Thank you George for your insightful, thoughtful words on the topic of pain. I picked out one short phrase from your post:

"..watch with serenity..."

Serenity. Magical word, magical place, accessible to all, anytime. Sometimes it can be hard to simply find or summon serenity. Regardless of how one arrives at serenity, it is the place from which we can objectively consider all the things in our lives. I've known both great pain (physical and psychological) and great serenity/happiness (again, physical and psychological).

So I don't pursue life. I pursue the serenity that makes all of life a wonder - not always wonderful. But it's been a great journey, and I fondly recall the past now. That wasn't always the case. The easiest way for me to find serenity is to stay as present as possible. I know that's not revelatory, we are frequently advised to "stay in the moment".

It's true though. We only experience the moment we are in. Everything else is in the past, and gone, or in the future, and unknown.

Joe