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Embrace the pain

Pain, of course, is sometimes one of the worst things in the world. But embracing the pain is also often the gateway for change.

Along the way, it doesn’t usually feel like it’s true. Because by definition, pain hurts. It makes you uncomfortable, distracts you from the your end goal, and often makes you feel like you can’t finish.

But the thing is, that feeling is only in the moment. In fact, by the end embracing the pain makes you feel like you can finish stronger than ever before. Think about it.

In yoga, you feel the pain but by the end you feel more flexible, feel stronger, and at the end of class, feel like you can do anything. Even do a second class.

In sports, the same thing is true. Through the pain that comes with training you get better.  And if you embrace it, you’ll get faster, jump higher and perform better when the game starts.

In life, pain helps you learn to endure failure, learn how to make better choices, and learn how to stand up and fight back the next time around.

When we run from pain and quit early we don’t get nearly enough out of it. We get disappointed and we don’t make progress.

On the other hand, when we embrace our pain, follow it to its source, and learn to lean into it, we have the opportunity to grow in a way that could change everything.

[With that said, I’m off to my daily 6am yoga class now]

7 Comments to Embrace the pain

Ron Clendenin
August 28, 2013

I enjoyed your thoughts on embracing pain. Resisting the pain doesn’t work anyway. I’ve observed that when I resist the mind gets involved and tends to intensify the pain. But as you said if I lean into the pain and ride it out it seems to lessen and I grow. This was true in both becoming a runner and in going through divorce.

Venita Brown
August 31, 2013

Great article. Very, very true.

Jeremy C Wilson
December 13, 2013

@Ron Clendenin Thanks for commenting and sharing your perspective and experience.

@Venita Brown
Thanks so much for commenting!

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