Pain

Welcome pain and change your life

I read as much as I can to feel less lonely in my brain. Recently I came across a text about pain. Since I’m a person who knows pain well, too well maybe, the text got my attention. What was said was that if you want to be brave, courageous and have an interesting life you will be in pain. Not just once, but over and over again. Because being brave means you will fall. And falling is painful.

It was such a relief to read this. To see it printed on a paper. Because hell yeah! I want to be brave and live to the fullest. And yes, I have fallen a thousand times. I have broken bones, my head and my heart. But I have been courageous enough to stand up to try again with the possible end of falling once more. And I am so proud of myself for never giving up. I am also starting to see how every painful incident makes me rise faster each time which is a great thing to know. 

“If you are distressed by anything external, the pain is not due to the thing itself but to your estimate of it; and this you have the power to revoke at any moment.”

― Matthew D. Lieberman

While super unpleasant, pain exists for a reason; it directs our attention to an injury so that we can take care of it and prevent further damage. Recent studies with MRI scans have showed that we feel both social and physical pain the same way and that the receptors in the brain activate the same areas. A mental trauma is in other words just as painful as being hit by a car.

Saying that pain is good would be naïve. But with the knowledge that it’s necessary and will keep visiting over and over again it’s easier to find personal ways to overcome and walk out of if head high.