Unlike normal opinions towards pain, I tend to think of pain as a necessary evil! Take any sort of pain - body, mind or soul - pain has its own way to give us a message, teach us a lesson and if required, change the course of our lives. If we have the ability to dispassionately look at our lives, we will accept & appreciate all the contribution that pain has had in shaping us into what we are today.
It is simpler for us to accept sayings, such as: "no rider learns to ride a horse without falling" or "no pain, no gain" - but it is not quite that simple to attribute positives to pain.
This association of success & grind is, in simplistic terms, just an association of learning & falling / failing. There is one element of falling / failing that we overlook - pain associated with the fall / failure. Thus the difficulty of looking at pain with even an iota of positive outlook.
Pain could be of all kinds at the same time - body, mind & soul! The body is hurt because of the fall, thus the pain. The mind is embarrassed to have fallen, thus the pain. The soul is hit because the number of attempts it has taken & yet falling, thus the pain!
It is quite important to note that pain of body is the simplest to manage - there are enough medicines available for all physical pain. The pain that can't be treated with medicine is the tricky one - and, by its nature - leaves us with a bigger lesson. Take a broken heart as an example, or a failed attempt at entrepreneurship - these scenarios are big enough to move us to the core, the pain accompanied is almost unbearable at the moment. Once the pain subsides, more often than not, we come out stronger!
It is quite important to note that pain of body is the simplest to manage - there are enough medicines available for all physical pain. The pain that can't be treated with medicine is the tricky one - and, by its nature - leaves us with a bigger lesson. Take a broken heart as an example, or a failed attempt at entrepreneurship - these scenarios are big enough to move us to the core, the pain accompanied is almost unbearable at the moment. Once the pain subsides, more often than not, we come out stronger!
Given this understanding - think of this: if we take away element of pain from failure, will we learn as much from that attempt / experience still? If we don't experience pain (of body / mind / soul) - will we care enough to try harder, do better, learn from past attempts / experiences - so that we can do better...or actually succeed?
Agreed, each individual has a different way to feel pain and also to deal with it. It is quite the same with experiencing happiness / joy as well - the difference is, happiness brings a general level of positive reactions from all who experience it. However, pain & sadness could bring a much wider range of reactions, which could be longer lasting as well. This makes it all the more important to give pain its due respect and accept it as more than just a negative that happens to us.
If we could look back on our lives, pick the lowest of lows and allow ourselves to feel similar pain that we felt during those days - we will not take long to realise such lows aren't many to begin with and also, how these days taught us a few lessons. These are the lessons that we haven't forgotten, rather have become pillars of our personality today.
It is time, in my view, to embrace pain - probably, not seek it, but accept it for sure. There is no one who is living, or has ever lived a pain-free life. Pain comes to one & all - it is up to each individual - to take something productive from it, or become a whiner!
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