Nothing good lasts forever, and neither does anything bad. Pain is temporary, but when you are going through it, you feel like it will last forever. Pain has a way of dragging on while great times tend to fly by. To reach your full potential, you are going to have to change the way that you see pain. As long as you understand that pain is temporary, you can find ways to embrace it. Once you welcome pain as your friend, you no longer have to fear it, but you can use it to your advantage. Once the pain goes away, you are given something much better as a reward.
It Will Hit You In Many Forms, But Pain is Temporary
Pain can hit us in so many ways. It can be a physical pain like an athletic injury, or it can be a mental pain like the loss of a loved one. Every time we got through any form of pain, we can use it to get better, or we can let it make us worse. There is no in-between and it is a decision that only we can make at that moment.
When I was at Iowa State, I spent a good chunk of my first two years injured. All I wanted to do was get back on the track and prove I was worth the scholarship I had, but I kept facing setback after a setback. I wanted to give up so bad. I never gave up though, and I am so happy that I didn’t.
The next year I went on to have the year of my career, and I ended up making the Olympic team. Even better than that though the injuries gave me the drive and the reason to start 9INE POINT Health. I would never have started helping others with athletic injuries if I had not gone through that problem myself.
The pain that I went through for those two years felt like too much to bear but as the pain was leaving me success rushed in and filled its place. I would not have been able to succeed in the same way because the pain taught me how to work and how to appreciate every opportunity that I have.
We Are Wired to Avoid Anything Painful or Uncomfortable Even When We Know The Pain is Temporary
The first thing that we must discuss now is that being in pain is not easy for any human. We are hard-wired to avoid pain. If we see something is going to make us uncomfortable we are supposed to run the other way and get as far away from it as possible.
The problem is that all of the growth we need to be great is in pain. If life were only smooth sailing, we would not learn as much because its hard to learn when you are winning all of the time. Pain is a much better teacher, but it is what we continuously try to get away from.
It is important to face this dilemma because once you understand this, you will be able to stand up to pain. If you are an athlete and you are training, you will know that all of the benefits of training start when the muscles begin to burn. If you always quit as soon as you feel any discomfort you are giving up the best parts. The best bodybuilders know that rep one starts when everything starts to hurt. Everything before that is just getting ready for the real work.
Pain is Temporary So Give It a Hug
When you embrace pain for what it is you can squeeze all of the good juices out of it. Pain is a vehicle so when you feel it entering your life here is what you need to do.
1. Look For The Lesson
When there is a pain in your life, there is always something that you can learn from it. The worst thing you can do with pain is suffered through it but not learn anything from it. When you learn from your pain, you can profit from it.
The difference between successful people and the unsuccessful is that one’s side learns from their pain while the other only sees the problems associated with pain. Things happen to us so we can learn and the situations prepare us for things we do not even know are coming our way later. Always stop, reflect and look for the lesson.
2. Look in The Mirror
The mirror gives you the opportunity to stop blaming other people. How many times have you suffered only to point the finger at what everyone else has done? Well, what have you done? What is your role in the situation? Anyone can pass the blame, but it takes a different level of character to stand in there and admit that this has all been your fault.
You will never be able to lead until you can take an accurate look at yourself in the mirror. You need to see yourself how other people see you and nothing is harder than doing this. The more you look in the mirror, the easier it will be to embrace the pain.
3. Make a Decision
You have to decide what you want in life. If you know you want something but it is getting harder to go back to that decision you made. For some people whatever you working about may come down to making a decision that you will finish no matter what. Some people need to make a choice to get started or to put themselves out there. Everyone has a different battle, but at some point, every great person made a decision.
If you want to be great not only are you going to have to make that decision but you are going to have to stand in tough and take the blows of life. You are going to have to accept that pain is temporary and what you are going through is required to get what you want from life. There is nothing more to it than that. Remember that pain is temporary then make a decision to get passed it.
Eric Thomas on How Pain is Temporary
KHO Health was acquired by was acquire by 9INE POINT in the summer of 2019 and is now referred to as 9INE POINT Health.
