Why the pain #5 Pain- Master or Mentor?

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Up to now I've describe pain as a positive thing and that we only see it as negative. It is positive because the message of pain is there to help us. Slow-pain tells us to pay attention because something is wrong and grow pain tells us to keep going because we are doing something important (for more on this check out weeks 1 to 4). If you learn how to hear these messages, pain will be your mentor. Pain will help you, pain will guide you, pain will encourage you and pain will equip you to be a healthier and stronger person.

 

But there is also a dark side to pain. On the dark side pain is your master and you are a slave. This master uses fear to paralyze you. If you're paralyzed you don't take action and if you don't take action you take the path of least resistance. This gives you a sense of security and safety. But that safety comes at a massive cost - because without action there can be no connection. Without action you cannot connect to other people, without action you cannot connect with your hurt in order to heal, without action you cannot connect with your passion, your dreams and your goals and  if you cannot connect to them you cannot pursue them. you know this is true Because like me you know that you have not fully utilised your potential.

 

The disconnect and inaction causes isolation, alienation and loneliness.

Isolation - when we build walls around ourselves to protect us we're not only keeping the bad stuff out we are also keeping the good stuff out. We end up alone and thus feel lonely.

Alienation -  when we start to believe that we are so different that we cannot be accepted or that we will not be accepted because we are different we feel lonely even when we are not alone. 

Loneliness can increase your risk of an early death by up to 45%.

 

What happens then when pain is your mentor and you are the disciple? Where pain as a master uses fear to paralyze you, pain as a mentor uses friction to help you grow and heal. Friction between the past and the present when you're you dealing with slow pain and friction between  the present and the future when you're dealing with grow pain. So I am telling you that it will be hard but that friction is what creates the energy. When you rub your hands together that action generates warmth. When you “rub” who you are against who you want to be it generates growth and healing. It is our best defence against isolation, alienation and loneliness. By taking action we open ourselves up to all our potential and in our openness we risk getting hurt.  hurt causes pain, but when pain is your mental it means that you then also open yourself up to more with them and more of your potential.

 So be curious and be brave or to put it another way the brave enough to be curious.