What punishments from God are not gifts?

I watched a clip from an interview with Stephen Colbert, and he was quoted as saying, “What punishments from God are not gifts?”
In other words, he was grateful for the suffering. Even the bad things that happen. His point was to be thankful for life in itself. He said it to mean that he believes it’s a gift to have suffered because he gets empathy for others who suffer.
Suffering has no escape. We are all likely going to suffer at some point. It’s odd because we all don’t want any hell to happen, but we can undoubtedly be grateful for it. Because we have to be thankful for all this life has to offer us. Awareness of other people’s loss helps us love more deeply. It helps us connect with more people.
I don’t know if I’ve looked at it this way before. But I guess I really should.
That’s not a terrible thing, if we’re honest.
I want to love the worst things about my life. I want to love the things that make me experience what others may have experienced too. I want to understand what other people have gone on to feel too.
I want to have experienced it to be there for others. To be understanding. To be empathetic.
I don’t know what’s going on in my life right now. I don’t know what’s happening next. I don’t know what’s happening tomorrow.
I know I will try and embrace the things that have happened. Because I may not be in control of everything, but I’m sure in control of how I react to everything.