A life can never attain peaks if there are no valleys.
If we are aiming for a linear experience then yes, you might pass through life safely and comfortably, but then you will never be able to experience its true glory. It will be like drinking a lukewarm cup of weak tea — safe, but tasteless. Life has to be experienced in its complete tapestry.
While peaks give you a sense of exhilaration and confidence, it is the valley which gives the depth of feeling and expands the soul. It is because pain carries within itself a great potential for self-transformation and growth.
Pain brings you back to your centre, forces you to acknowledge yourself, make changes and grow. It pulls you out of your self-imposed illusion of limitations. You cannot expect to bypass pain. If you want to grow, then the challenge has to be taken.
Rumi gives the example of a chick pea boiling and eventually becoming cooked. He implies that if you have not been boiled you are still raw. That’s why even all great people have gone through suffering.
How can you help others who suffer if you have never suffered? So accept the pain, embrace it and pay attention to what it is trying to teach you. It will not only increase your own level of self-awareness but also enhance your understanding and compassion for others