Acrylic on canvas panel, 5×7
©2023 Jeff Lung
It’s July, which means my favorite endurance event — the Tour de France — is well underway, claiming one svelte superstar after another. I often kid that if I had a superpower, it would be suffering. Physical, emotional, psychological… I know how to suffer like no one else, which is why the TDF is, for me, such a beacon of hope.
I gain immense satisfaction watching the riders in this event suffer on a daily basis, only to come back for more and more and more during the three-week span. It brings me joy to see them put everything on the line physically. I love watching them sacrifice their short term well-being for all the prospects of glory. Does this make me a sadist?
No. I don’t think so. I get so much out of this because I know what it’s like to suffer. On the bike, on the trail, on the road of life… I know a thing or two about suffering and the number one thing I know about it is that it makes the good times immensely better. If you don’t know pain, how can you know pleasure? If you don’t know suffering, how can you know peace?
It’s the immense work ethic and discipline within the suffering that makes the end-of-the-road success that much more enjoyable for me too. And this is a metaphor that extends into real life — in any endeavor. I’m seeing it now, everywhere I look, in my art career.
The road of suffering is arduous and long, but when I do make a sale… when I do get into an exclusive art show… when I do sell a class… it makes all that suffering so much more worth it.
So suffer on, my friends! And don’t get it twisted! We’re just gettin’ started!
Can you juxtapose the successes of your life with the suffering it took to get there? Tell me in the comments!