PAIN AND LIFE || THE PHILOSOPHY OF PAIN
Without pain, without sacrifice, you can’t enjoy the taste of life. Pain is meant to be faced, and the way you face your pain determines what you really are and how effectively you deserve the fruit of life.
Though seems unpleasant, but, in a real sense pain has a great influence over prosperity and satisfaction. It’s the fear of pain that hinders growth.
Change and pain
Well, it’s like change and pain goes side by side. It’s difficult to adapt to the change and this adaptation brings a sense of resentment and ends up stimulating a wave of pain inside. Perhaps, the change acts as a stepping stone for prosperity in life but the pain brought by it impedes our action to adapt the same.
Any change in life has a direct association with pain and you just can’t simply avoid the same.
Pain and the purpose of life
Pain remains painful until you extract the purpose of your life out of it. Finding purpose in pain is the symbol of ultimate strength. Pain is progressive but quite often you fear pain because you don’t see any purpose besides. Figuring out the purpose of pain ultimately transforms your sense of resentment and misery into fulfilment and satisfaction. In short, pain is bearable and endurable when you get the purpose. For instance, a woman can endure her labour pain because of the purpose of holding her own child.
In the words of Viktor Emil Frankl, “Life is never made unbearable by circumstance, but only by lack of meaning and purpose”.
Escaping the pain
Pain needs courage to be faced and our programming doesn’t allow us to face it courageously. We use to run away and keep on resisting everything that brings pain. We often keep on searching for a way to escape the pain instead of facing it and there we entrap ourselves into misery. Escapism is not a method to relieve pain. Escapism is just a temporary numbness. This temporary escape only hinders your growth.
Well, don’t you think, we worship God just as an escape from pain?
Truly speaking, we just can’t avoid pain. We all desire pleasure and contentment but it’s impossible to witness the same without experiencing the pain. Perhaps, that’s why Nietschze made an astounding point:
“Did you ever say yes to a pleasure? Oh my friends, then you also said yes to all pain. All things are linked, entwined, in love with one another.”What does not kill me, makes me stronger.” ~Friedrich Nietzsche
Pain and Death
Death is the ultimate truth and the result of everything. You try to avoid pain because of your fear of death. It’s the fear of death that leads you towards escapism. You keep on avoiding the situations and changes because of your anticipation. If death is a reality, then what’s the point of fearing its confrontation, and hence, why do we keep on resisting pain and withheld the act of experiencing pain?