As my teacher Shimona says ” one can have pain but suffering is optional”
Once a man went to the Baal Shem Tov to ask him how he could deal with his suffering and the Baal Shem Tov sent him to Reb Zusha of Anapoli, said he would help him better. When the man arrived to Reb Zusha’s very humble home, he saw how poor and sick he was. Reb Zusha asked him what brought him there and the man said that the Baal Shem Tov had sent him to ask how he dealt with suffering,as to which Reb Zusha laughed and said “why would the Baal Shem Tov send you to me if I haven’t suffered one day in my life?”
Everything is a matter of perspective, for Reb Zusha his life was what it was and he didn’t perceive it as suffering.
