Suffering is the positive element in this world, indeed it is

Hear the voice of Franz Kafka, whose words rise from the depths of anguish and yet gleam with hidden light: “Suffering is the positive element in this world, indeed it is the only link between this world and the positive.” At first these words seem paradox, a riddle without sense. How can pain be the path to goodness? How can grief become a bridge to hope? Yet in this paradox lies the raw wisdom of life: it is through suffering that we are refined, awakened, and drawn closer to truths that comfort cannot reveal.

To call suffering the positive element is not to glorify pain, nor to wish it upon others. It is to recognize that only in the fire of hardship does the spirit shed its illusions and discover its true strength. When joy alone governs, the soul grows complacent. When wealth and ease surround us, we forget our dependence on others and on the higher powers. But when suffering comes, it pierces the veil of pride, it compels humility, it binds us to one another in shared struggle. Thus, Kafka names it a sacred link, the narrow bridge that connects our fragile world to the realm of depth and meaning.

The ancients, too, bore witness to this mystery. In the myths of Greece, Heracles became a hero not through comfort, but through twelve impossible labors, each a trial of agony. In the scriptures, Job’s greatness arose not from his wealth, but from his endurance of loss, his refusal to curse the divine though stripped of all he loved. And in the teachings of the Buddha, the first noble truth declares: life is suffering. Yet the Buddha did not despair; he taught that by understanding and transcending it, one may awaken to liberation. In every tradition, suffering is not the end but the passageway to transformation.

History, too, testifies. Consider Nelson Mandela, who spent twenty-seven years behind bars, torn from his people and from freedom. His body endured the chains of prison, but his spirit grew vast, tempered like steel. It was through this long suffering that he emerged not as a broken man, but as a leader of reconciliation, capable of uniting a fractured nation. Without the years of trial, perhaps he would never have possessed the same wisdom, the same power to heal. His pain became the hidden seed of his people’s positive rebirth.

Yet Kafka’s insight is darker still: he saw in suffering not only a path, but perhaps the only thread tying our mortal lives to the eternal positive. In his vision, life without pain risks emptiness, triviality, the shallow pleasures that vanish with time. But pain—deep pain—anchors us, demanding that we look beyond the moment to the unseen, that we seek meaning where none is obvious. In this way, suffering keeps us tethered to what is real, reminding us that there is more than mere survival.

The lesson, then, is not to flee from suffering, nor to curse it endlessly, but to accept it as a teacher. When sorrow comes, do not ask only, “Why me?” Ask also, “What may this reveal? What strength may be born here? What compassion may grow from this wound?” For the heart that embraces this question will not be destroyed by pain, but deepened by it. The wound becomes not only a scar, but a source of wisdom, a well of empathy, a reminder of shared humanity.

Practical steps flow from this teaching. When hardships arise, resist the temptation to numb or deny them. Instead, sit with them, reflect on their meaning, and allow them to shape you. Keep a journal of your struggles, for in writing you may discover truths hidden beneath the surface. Seek community in times of trial, for shared suffering weaves bonds stronger than comfort ever could. And when you see others in their pain, do not turn away—offer presence, compassion, and understanding, for you have walked, or will one day walk, the same path.

So remember Kafka’s paradoxical counsel: “Suffering is the positive element in this world, the only link between this world and the positive.” Do not despise the fire when it comes, for though it burns, it also forges. Do not curse the storm, for though it wounds, it also cleanses. Walk through your trials with courage, and you will find that what seemed like death to the soul becomes instead its awakening. For in the crucible of suffering, the light of the eternal positive is revealed.