Who experiences pain? Obviously we all do. Your first love, your first birth, a parent's passing, etc. all are painful. Actually life is full of pain in so many ways. Leaders experience the pain of missed forecasts, layoffs, litigation, product failures to name just a few. A the pain of doing homework with an 8 year old....!

But it is your choice to let pain move on to suffering. No one is obligated to suffer, but sadly so many do. The simple fact is that attachment leads to suffering. Let me say that again: attachment leads to suffering. The more attached you are to a person, result or object the more you will suffer. A good example in business is watching some failed M&A activity (Yahoo and MSFT). To an outsider, non stockholder this looks painful and awkward. To some one who is heavily attached to the existing business model it can easily turn to suffering. The results are less than great, suffering abounds. How many people have you seen suffer at work as they got so attached to their business model and then unwilling to change, even when it is obvious they must.

This is a universal, global truth: attachment leads to suffering. You can't avoid pain but it is your choice to suffer. This creeps up on you as wanting leads to craving then to attachment then to suffering. It happens easily with the ones we love the most. The suffering a parent feels when a child goes a stray is so deep and sad. My aunt lost her husband of 50 years and has suffered everyday since.

This week see if you are aware when you pass from pain to suffering. What are you attached to?