Pain: Is Pain Good Or Bad?

There are many things that are part of the human experience, and pain is one of them. Pain can come in many different forms and is not limited to one form. This can be: physical mental and emotional. On one side it can be seen as nothing more than a problem and something that one must try to remove at all costs.

It has even been said that in this day and age with the way the world is ‘advancing’, that all pain should be removed from the human experience. And how this would not only be the next stage, it would also be what is ethical.

For some people, this outlook is going to sound like the next advancement in human evolution; especially if they have or are experiencing some kind of prolonged pain. This is understandable, as no one in their right mind would want to live a life that is full of pain.

More so if the pain cannot be removed and is a constant thorn in ones side. Even the strongest of characters are going to be pushed to the limit when it comes to experiencing pain on a continual basis.

The Average Person

Fortunately, being in place of constant pain is often the exception and not the rule for the majority of people. But that doesn’t mean that on average, people’s experience of pain is fairly moderate.

Physically one might be fairly pain free, and yet emotionally or mentally it could be a completely different story altogether. Here, one could be living a life that is either extremely painful from time to time, or what could be described as moderate and even manageable pain.

Pleasure And Pain

Most things in life can be seen as having the potential to cause pleasure or pain. And yet if one moved away from this duality, it becomes clear that some things can simply be neutral.  The average day of someone’s life is going to include moments that are pleasure and moments that are painful.

If one only experienced pleasure, it would not only become boring after a while, it would also start to become painful. What made one feel good at first would soon lose its impact and at the very least, some kind of irritation or unrest would soon appear.

Benefits

So while pleasure is wonderful to experience, it is only this way through one being able to experience pain. One supports the other and without one side of the coin, the other wouldn’t be possible.

And so pain has many benefits to ones existence. These relate to one surviving and thriving on this planet. A very basic example is of one putting their hand near a fire or something that is hot. The pain that arises will cause them to move their hand away very quickly; without the pain to alert them to the danger, they would burn their arm.

Success

When it comes to someone thriving on this planet or becoming a success, it is very often the result of one using their pain to propel them forward. To take the steps that they need to take to achieve their dreams.

In many cases, if it wasn’t for the sense of pain that they were feeling and in some instances this will be extreme pain, then they wouldn’t bother doing anything. It is not that their life was pleasurable that motivated them; it was due to the pain that they were experiencing.

Contrast

And very often, this pain is the result of the contrast that has been formed in their mind. As a result of where they want to be, where they are is causing them intense pain. So they use this pain to gradually close the gap. In this sense, pain is their friend and not their enemy

It is not something that controls them, but something they use to achieve what they need and want. This doesn’t mean that their power never gets the better of them or is always under control, but it does mean that they do their best to utilize it to their advantage.

The Trap

So while channelling ones pain into the pursuit of their dreams can sound fairly simply, there are many things that can sabotage this painful force. And they are all the result of one settling for pleasure or some kind of short term relief.

Instead of this pain gradually building and only settling down once one achieves what they desire; it becomes momentarily or completely neutralized. And the power that would enable one to move on in life is then being wasted and one is liable to remain stuck and even regress.

Options

Society offers plenty of choices for one to numb their pain and while their life is unlikely to improve as consequence of this, they will experience pleasure. In this way, nothing really changed apart from the pain being removed. These can include: alcohol, drugs, food, sex, shopping and exercise.

A Metaphor

It’s like being in a relationship that is unhealthy and yet through becoming cut off from the pain, one starts to feel comfortable with it. So not only is one becoming cut off from their true feelings about the situation, it could also end up getting a lot worse.

The Messenger

It can easily become a habit to remove pain and to experience pleasure or nothing at all. But what pain is often doing is informing someone about something that is not right. It could mean that one needs to take a deeper look at something. If ones arm did end up near something hot and one felt pain, it would be a clear sign that evasive action needs to be taken.

One would not keep their arm there and try to remove the pain. To do this would cause their arm to burn and after a while, they could lose it.  And when it comes to the consequences of avoiding pain in one’s personal life, it could take a while for one to see the damage that is occurring.

---

If you feel this has been of value, please leave a comment, like or get  in touch. And feel free to share this article. 

Oliver J R Cooper 
http://www.oliverjrcooper.co.uk/