What really is this pain that we all speak of?
An emotion? An intense feeling maybe? Or a mere state of mind?
Whatever the answer may be, there is one important fact and that is “the way we react to pain determines our journey.”
I've come to know about two particular categories of people in the face of pain. The first category is made up of people who wallow in their pain. Taking time to assimilate one's pain isn't such a bad thing but there may be a problem when a person does it for so long.
I know of a young man who totally ruined his life because he was so caught up in the pain he felt. This young man lost a parent and weeks later he started taking pain killers due to the constant headaches he had courtesy of his daily crying. He kept taking these pain killers and when it seemed like they weren't effective, he increased his dosage.
It's no news that some pain killers could be classified as hard drugs when taken in high dosage. This was the case of the young man. One could say that he took these pain killers to get rid of the pain he felt from losing a parent but in the end, he became an addict and still didn't get over the loss of his father.
In such a case, the idea of healing doesn't come to play. This is because the person in question tries to shield and stifle this pain instead of accepting the pain.
The second category of people however would be those who acknowledge their pain. This set of people know that once they embrace their pain in all entirety, it becomes a source of wisdom, resilience and healing.
This set of people find it easier to go through life because they know that pain is inevitable. They face the pain head-on, learn vital lessons from the experience, take some time to recuperate and then continue with their journey.
The subject of pain is a very delicate one. One which many people do not sit back to actually think about. We just go about our day knowing that something like pain exists and that we don't want to experience such (masochists excluded). Still, pain undoubtedly affects our life.
This is one reason why I like artists who talk plainly about certain delicate issues. It is also the reason why I liked the song “believer” by imagine dragons the first time I listened to it. Asides the energy and bold instrumentation, the song just talks extensively about pain and how one can harness their pain for good.
It throws light on the fact that we may choose to shy away from the pain but at the end of the day, we would have to face it. So why not face it in time and turn the pain into a driving force instead?
I can remember a couple of times when I consciously and willfully turned the pain I was feeling into a driving force and I got good results from the endeavor. Also, my healing process was set in motion.