Living doesn't hurt

by Carlos Drummond de Andrade

Definitive like everything that is simple.
Our pain doesn't come from things we've already lived through
but from dreams
that didn't come true.
Why do we suffer so much for love?
The right thing to do is not to suffer
just be thankful for having met
such a nice person
who made us feel something so intense
and stayed with us for a reasonable time,
a happy time.
Why suffer?
Because we automatically forget
what we have enjoyed and we suffer
because of our unfulfilled dreams,
because of all the cities we would like
to have visited with our loved one
and didn't, because of all the children
we would like to have had together and didn't,
because of all the shows and books and silences
we would like to have shared and didn't.
Because of all the kisses we didn't give
and never will.
We don't suffer because our work is tiring
and pays little but because of all the free time
that we didn't have to go to the movies,
to talk to a friend,
to swim, to go out with someone.
We don't suffer because our mother
is inpatient
but because of all the moments
that we could have been confiding in her
our deepest anxieties
if she were interested
in understanding.
We don't suffer because our team lost
but for the sufocated euphoria.
We don't suffer because we are getting old
but because our future is being
stolen, depriving us
of a thousand adventures,
all the ones that we dreamed about
and were never able to have.
How can you relieve the pain of what you didn't live?
The answer is as simple as a verse:
Having fewer illusions and living more!!!
Each day I live
I am more convinced that
we waste life
when we don't give love,
when we don't use our strength,
when we don't take risks for selfish reasons,
when we avoid suffering
but loose happiness.
Pain is inevitable.
Suffering is optional.

People say we only regret what we didn't do. Is it true?

Does everyone suffer? Why is that?

What does "suffering is optional" mean? Does it apply to all of us?

After all, does living hurt or not?

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