Ajahn Sumedho

“Oftentimes, the First Noble Truth is misquoted as “All life is suffering,” but that is an inaccurate and misleading reflection of the Buddha’s insight. He did not teach that life is constant misery, nor that you should expect to feel pain and unhappiness at all times. Rather, he proclaimed that suffering is an unavoidable reality of ordinary human existence that is to be known and responded to wisely.”
― Venerable Ajahn Sumedho, Dancing With Life: Buddhist Insights for Finding Meaning and Joy in the Face of Suffering

“When you are overcome with resentment and aversion to suffering, your resistance is indeed an affliction. When you feel ashamed, depressed, and defeated by your suffering, it presses you down, causes you to contract. But if you can learn to separate your resistance to suffering from the actual pains and difficulties in your life, an incredible transformation takes place. You are able to meet your suffering as though you were a wagon receiving the load being placed on it. Paradoxically, the effect is that your load is lightened, and your life can roll forward, whatever its destination.”
― Ajahn Sumedho, Dancing With Life: Buddhist Insights for Finding Meaning and Joy in the Face of Suffering