By Samantha McKenzie

No one volunteers to experience pain, but one way or the other we all end up feeling its unpleasant effects. Let’s face it, pain hurts. Like it really hurts. It’s sharp and unbearable. It’s long and drawn out. It can make you wince, shout, cry out loud and beg for mercy. It’ll even force you to your knees some days.

But pain has its purpose. It’s your bodies personal ADT system. It alerts you to danger. It tries to protect you from further injury and it beckons your attention. It’s your body’s way of letting you know that it wants to survive.

Pain also has a support system. When your head hurts, your body will respond by closing its eyes. When you stump your toe, your other foot accepts that it will have to bear the extra weight. When your heart breaks, your tears allow you to release the agony.

Pain also has an end game. It literally wants to stop. It’s ultimate goal is to allow you to survive.  After one broken leg, it hopes you’ll avoid another. It doesn’t want to end up being chronic pain – which becomes pathological rather than beneficial to you. It doesn’t want you to adapt to extreme forms of torture nor tolerance. It wasn’t designed to coax you into suffering willingly either. It was meant to be temporal. It was meant to produce, to change, to help you find better solutions.

Pain is said to promote healing, since most living organisms will protect the injured area to avoid further pain. It’s also interesting to note that people born with congenital insensitivity to pain are said to have shorter life spans. Their bodies don’t respond to the signals of pains, so they often suffer with numerous broken bones and repetitive ailments.

Pain in some way is a blessing. It teaches us to be more careful and reminds us to be empathetic towards others. It has the capability of creating a stronger community – one in which we come to each others aid.

The best part of the experience of pain is that it cause us to grow – physically, mentally and spiritually. Struggle is painful, yet it builds your stamina and creates a more resilient you. My pain has a tendency to help me focus more. I gain clarity during my darkest hours and make decisions that ultimately ease my pain.

Pain is also a teaching tool. It directs your path. It is an impetus to our wisdom. It’s what our parents meant when they’d say, “if you won’t hear, then you’re going to have to feel.”

Instead of rejecting your pain, use it to guide your growth and see it as an essential part of your existence. Learn from it.