The Alchemy of Purpose
Pain becomes unbearable not through its intensity, but through its apparent meaninglessness. The same physical or emotional suffering that would break us when random becomes tolerable—even transformative—when it serves a purpose we deeply value. This reveals that our capacity for endurance isn't fixed by our pain threshold, but by our ability to locate significance within struggle. The question isn't whether we can bear what comes, but whether we can find or create meaning worthy of our suffering.