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Symptoms are easier to deal with, but they will keep coming back until the problem is truly solved.
Wiping the runny nose does not cure the cold. Giving someone a hot lunch does not raise them out of their poverty. Apologizing for the pain caused does not erase or undo the transgression which inflicted it. Banning the words does not eradicate the bigotry and hatred fueling their use. All problems produce symptoms which in their turn need to be addressed. But unless the core problem is resolved the symptoms will keep returning, the core problem will keep on producing them.
We feel an ache in our knees, we take a Tylenol and the pain decreases. The Tylenol did not undo the cause of the pain, it did not erase the injury or repair the damage. It simply dampened our sensation of the pain. If the injury is able to heal on its own, reducing or removing the pain makes it easier for us to persevere until it is resolved.
If the injury is not able to heal through the body’s natural repair systems reducing the pain helps minimize the injury’s impact on our lives. In either case, treating the pain did not solve the underlying problem. It simply made the problem more manageable for the time being.
The symptoms of a situation are always the first things we notice because they are the manifestation and…