Pain is the driving force behind everything we do. Do I have your attention?
I've told many people about this concept, and most have argued against it. But if you think deeply enough about the things you do, you'll find that all your actions had a source in pain or its avoidance. But pain takes on many forms. It can be as slight as mild discomfort, or as intense as extreme suffering.
Even Love in highly connected to the experience of pain. When you love someone, and they are not around, it can be quite painful, despite the fact that you may be experiencing deep passion for the other person. The most joyful part of your life can also be the most agonizing.
To prove this concept though, think about the last decision you made. That would be the event in which you clicked on this article to read it. Why did you do it? You may have wanted to learn something, or perhaps you were just curious, or perhaps you genuinely disagree with what I've said here. In each case, you felt you lacked something. Lack is a sense of suffering, even as slight as it might be.
Lets explore it even more. Why does one go to school? School offers education. Education offers work. Work gives you money. Money provides food and shelter. Thus, you have avoided the suffering of being homeless and hungry. The root of going to school is pain. Pain, however, is not a bad thing. There are some people who are born without the ability to feel pain. These people often end up in the hospital from injuries that could have been avoiding had they been able to feel pain, such as from a burn, broken bone, etc. For those of us who feel pain, it is does not have to be the force that breaks you, but rather the power that makes you unbreakable.
My time in the hospital from a car crash taught me how to withstand pain. At first, the pain I felt was pure torture. It wasn't until many months or even years later that I learned how to embrace pain. If you accept it as it comes, if you observe the experience of pain, it loses its influence over you. It is a message. Pain tells us what what might be going wrong. It is a warning, at times.
Over all, pain can be seen as a friend, offering strength and wisdom and showing us the path we should follow.
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