The Greatest part of pain

All of us experience pain at one point or the other in our lives, some more than others and some pain more severe than others. It is a normal part of living and growth, whether it is losing someone dear to us or getting hurt in our day to day relationships, but what we do with it determines the impact it will have on us. Sometime ago I experienced a very painful situation, and my reaction to it pushed me to find better ways of dealing with painful occurrences in my life. Generally, we all respond to pain in a variety of different ways, but there are 3 simplified responses:

1. Run Away!

Most of us do this more often than we know when confronted with difficult situations or hurt. For example, when we are very interested in a particular friend’s welfare but the person keeps blowing us off, we tend to just shrug and walk away. Most of us ( I am a culprit myself) say to ourselves that if the person is not interested in us, then it is not worth it. Another aspect of running away is retreating into ourselves to prevent further hurt from occurring. We stop doing some things we normally do eg. phone calls and text messages etc .I run away mostly by staying in bed watching funny sitcoms and laughing. I find that a few hours of this helps me feel better. I also like going for church programs and music shows that can help me take my mind off stuff. To each his own, right?

2. Volcanic Eruption

This is my personal favourite even though I don’t respond that way(most of the time).It is quite interesting to observe such a person at the peak of their anger.It is like observing a hurricane. They tend to become angry when in pain so lash out at anything and anybody around them.This type of response is very destructive so we need to try and limit our responses in this manner as much as is possible. Most of the time they are not really angry with others but with themselves. So don’t worry if you know someone like that-he/she isn’t angry with you! What helps such a person is a listening and patient ear so that they can vent and get it out of their systems.

3. Cry baby....

The term cry baby does not necessarily mean a cry baby. It is a figurative expression referring to those of us who tend to cry in response to pain. Almost all of us cry when in pain, especially unexpected excruciating pain. I cry even when I read a sad story or scene in a book, so I tend to cry when in pain. The tears help take some of the pain away and I get an excuse to eat ice cream!

Regardless of the response we give when we are in pain, one thing we all need to do is deal with the pain as completely as possible so that we can move on. Pain helps us to grow and mature. This happens especially when we can honestly examine ourselves after a hurtful situation, acknowledge our faults maturely, apologize if necessary and move on! Staying in that painful moment does not contribute in any way to improving our lives. We may end up withered and bitter folks because of that (who wants to be a lemon right?) so it is important to learn to move on!

Finally, as the adage goes, when life hands you lemons, make some lemonade! Make the best of painful situations in your life and you will find that it becomes very profitable to you.