Pleasure in Pain
I have to confess I’ve always been a pleasure seeker. I like feeling good, doing things I love and generally getting the most from my life. Why the hell not?!
In the past, I often steered away from problems or dulled discomfort with food or alcohol - something pleasurable that distracted me from any uneasiness.
Yet suffering is a normal aspect of life. We come to the world suffering, it’s no easy feat being born. Ask your mother!
We all face challenges on varying degrees throughout life, and over time they allow us to grow and become stronger.
A weightlifter, for example, would not become an Olympic winner if they did not have competition that pushed them beyond their limits to become great. That challenge is a driving force for success, allowing us to overcoming hurdles and increase our experience of pleasure.
Having things rather easy is fun for a short while, for sure, but gets boring before too long. Challenge wakes us up! It demands we think and do things differently. We have to learn more about ourselves and the situation to create resourcefulness and resilience.
Life is going to test us, there is no easy route. We won’t like how is makes us feel, we may worry about it, hide from it, complain about it, blame it on someone else. We all know someone who does this, do we not? I know I can go ‘there’ at times and focus on nothing but the problem - “Ohh, woe is me!”
If our basic outlook is that pain and suffering is a negative thing and must be avoided at all costs, or that it symbolises failure, we are likely to continue suffering in the form of unhappiness, depression, anxiety, just to name a few.
Its at the point when we stop the pity party, turn right around and start looking at how best to tackle it, that we reengage ourselves and begin to build strength. When we decide to focus on the solutions and not the problem, we instantly transform hardship to growth. By taking charge, we become a little more interesting.
Suppose you got a nasty cut on your leg. You could ignore it but the blood and pain will keep bringing you back to it. You could place a bandage over it and protect (hide) it. Or you could decide what attention it needs. You could clean it, attend to it in the manner in which it needs. Perhaps you have the skill to do this and perhaps you need to seek out additional help.
Then, it will need ongoing care as it takes the time it needs to heal. We could complain, scream and shout about our poor leg, that would not actually help the healing process. Blaming others for the injury won’t take away the pain. Worry will not prevent infection and eating a mountain of cake with a bottle of Merlot, will not heal it faster.
Shying away and hiding in your comfort zone is a great way to lead a boring life.
Life presents hard times - bruises, scars of the physical and emotional variety are part of the journey. And let’s face it, people who have lived through many life trials and tribulations are interesting people. They are life savvy and, often, rather fascinating and a pleasure to know. They live life, not avoid it.
If we allow ourselves growth from the challenges we face, over time we start to develop new stronger, more beautiful skin. The scars become artworks in our body of knowledge.