Pain is something we all wish to avoid. Whether it is physical or emotional, pain can dominate all that it touches and colour the experiences of those it affects.
It is impossible to live a carefree existence if you are in chronic pain. It is also difficult to reach to be the best version of yourself if emotional pain is torturing you from the inside.
While never wanted, pain can serve a very useful purpose.
What pain does is forces us to come into the present moment. Acute pain, something that is sharp and in your face right now, yanks you from whatever complacent existence you were living in and demands that you pay attention to it now.
Stubbing your toe, hitting your funny bone on something, banging your knee against the side of the bed – all of these sudden injuries force us to become keenly aware of the present. We can be going along, drifting through the day when suddenly we are faced with a sudden pain that cannot be ignored.
Chronic pain is different because it never goes away and it affects everything you do. People dealing with it describe their days in terms of pain management. They have good and bad days, dependant on if they are managing the pain at tolerable levels. Then there are days when it is too intense for them to function as they would like.
Chronic or acute, pain will anchor us to the moment and make us pay attention to the only time that truly exists.
Emotional pain can be as debilitating as physical pain. Grief, loss, fear, shame, anger and despair change our perception of the world. These types of emotions can also affect us on a physical level, so not only are we dealing with a wounded mind, we also need to deal with a body that ceases to function normally because of it.
We all want to avoid pain, yet on some levels we create it. Sometimes we get into relationships that are a source of pain, somehow attracting that experience at the moment. Or we can cause grief for those around us, thriving in a misery-loves-company scenario by sharing the painful feelings we have inside.
Some of us may indulge in behaviours that ultimately cause us pain, like drinking or doing drugs or eating what we know isn’t good for us. In one way it could be an attempt to escape from the pain we are already feeling inside.
Numbing both physical and emotional pain is common. Powerful painkillers are used to deal with the physical, and addictive behaviours cover up the emotional.
Anything that allows one to avoid the present moment, whether through mood-altering substances, eating excessively, shopping compulsively, or the myriad of other pastimes we have invented to avoid being present are simply masks.
At some point every mask needs to be removed.
There are powerful lessons that can be learned from pain. It is a way of discovering who you are and what is important to you.
We all give lip-service to the idea that without your health, nothing else matters. This is actually such a meaningful statement that we need to understand it.
No amount of money, fame, beautiful things or accolades are important if you don’t feel good.
Accepting pain and using it to learn about ourselves can be a way of dealing with it.
When pain enters your life, allow it to be there as a teacher that can guide you out of the meaningless routines of life and help you to discover what is truly important to you.