Stephen Colbert, the comedian and late-night host, once reflected that he had learned to “love the thing that I most wish had not happened,” asking whether even what we call punishments might, in some sense, be gifts. His words carry a difficult pill to swallow: that to be grateful for existence is to accept all of it. The good and the bad.

What we call suffering is not “punishment” in any ultimate sense, but part of a lawful unfolding. The yogi points to the great principle of cause and effect, karma, as the natural working out of growth. Life is ordered, purposeful, and deeply interconnected. Life itself is the gift—and everything within it, even the hardest moments, participates in the soul’s long journey toward realization. The soul grows through experience. What we call suffering is part of the gradual unfolding of consciousness, the working out of our own development.

This is why you cannot “pick and choose” the parts of life to be grateful for. Every experience is necessary. To reject the painful is, in a sense, to reject part of your own evolution.

Yet the yogi does not claim that suffering is good in itself. Rather, it becomes meaningful when rightly understood. Pain, loss, and difficulty act as teachers—sometimes harsh, but never without purpose. They deepen awareness, expand sympathy, and give a clearer sense of connection with others walking their own difficult paths.

Everything happening to you is guiding you toward your highest good, even when you can’t see it yet.