God says...

God says to his children, "I understand your fear and your doubt and your pain, but I want you to know that I am love, and love conquers all. My love never fails. I am your courage, security and comfort. I will never let you down, nor will I forsake you."

An Invitation to Pain

Roughly four weeks ago now I made a decision which has had a significant ongoing impact on my life. This is not an unusual thing. Not for me, nor anyone else. Life is full of choices, and all choices have consequences. Naturally, many of our daily decisions are trivial matters which we make quickly and without any real consideration. However, the bigger, potentially more beneficial or disastrous choices must be thought through carefully.

This is one area where I excel: thinking things through. I am an analytical and reflective person who does not take major decisions lightly. Generally, I am neither reactive nor spontaneous. I weigh up my options and take into account the possible ramifications. I run through scenarios in my mind, and I also talk to people. Sometimes, I talk because I think the person to whom I am speaking may be able to help me with some fresh insight into the situation. Other times, I talk because the act of vocalizing a problem or a dilemma is, in itself, helpful in providing some clarification.

What was the decision I made? I was reading the church newsletter and they were calling for players for the soccer team. I knew it was an all age team and I thought to myself, I'd like to do that. So I thought about it, and I talked to my wife and children about it. It would cost me 5-6 hours per week, a couple of hundred dollars to register, and it would probably hurt, especially in the pre season training period. There was also the possibility that I would suffer serious injury. I might not even make the squad as there were going to be more players than required.

Eventually, and I'm talking days later, I joined the team. The first training session was 4 weeks ago, and I have been in pain everyday since. I finish training feeling a mixture and elation and exhaustion, and despite the agony, I look forward to going back for more. 

I'm loving being pushed physically by a coach who is harder on us than I ever would be on myself. I'm enjoying rediscovering my skills, (I was in retirement for 30 years) and the challenge of trying to find the speed I lost somewhere along the way, and the power. I like the camaraderie and the dynamic of the different personalities of my teammates. My body is screaming for relief but this is good for me as a whole person, so I ignore the pain and treat the muscle injuries, and go back for more punishment. When I'm straining for breath after a brutal series of running drills, when I am in the thick of the game, running, tackling and kicking, I forget my troubles. I have found another form of escape. I feel at peace. So far the decision to play soccer has proved to be a good one. Stay tuned.

When have you made a decision which has been painful, either emotionally or physically, but has turned out to be of great benefit to you?

Photo sources
http://therightangle.co/issues/moral-dilemmas-in-citizen-journalism.html/
http://www.coastalsoccerusa.com/curriculum-methodology.php

A Painful Epiphany

I must have known this fact. It must have been a part of the knowledge I have collected during my visit to Earth. I must have realized at some point, somewhere along the way that pain is tiring: exhausting as a matter of fact, but only recently have I experienced true revelation. My broken ribs have taught me how hard my body has to work to repair itself. Ribs can't be immobilized in plaster. You can sit motionless but it still hurts when you get up, lying down is very uncomfortable, and you can't avoid coughing or even worse, sneezing. God forbid anyone, or anything, should make you laugh because the pain won't be funny at all. There's no pill you can take. No healing balm to rub on. Although Codeine perhaps takes the edge off a little, who wants to be constipated. I cherish my regularity.

Ever since the point of a large human's shoulder collided with my chest, I have been tired, unenergetic and in some degree of pain. I haven't been able to exercise for two weeks now and I feel physically flat. Yet, at night, when I fall into bed - actually I don't fall because that would hurt - I sleep just as though I had run ten kilometres that morning, or dug trenches all day or whatever. I'm just as tired as I was before the injury, even though I am doing less. My body is still working hard. It doesn't like the situation any more than I do so its metaphorically killing itself to heal. I am amazed by this. I know fighting infection wears you out but apparently I assumed pain was different.

"Stop complaining you big cry baby," I hear you say. So what if you've got a couple of broken ribs? So, now I get it. I understand. Some people battle chronic pain. Many have had much more severe injuries than what I have.I actually feel afraid as I contemplate the intense suffering that some people must endure. I feel terribly sad that for many sufferers there is no relief, no remedy. I wonder where they find the will and the strength to keep going, and can only conclude that it must be supernatural. The human body, including the mind, is more than just a natural wonder, more than a complex and efficient machine, it is a masterpiece of design and engineering: the pinnacle of all creation. Broken humans...my prayers are with you.

Bloodthirsty

Pain is entertaining. Other people's pain, I mean. From the gladiators of ancient Rome who maimed or killed each other to amuse the spectators gathered in one of many arenas around the empire, to the modern day exponents of mixed martial arts who do battle inside cages while the UFC fans roar their approval, people have always enjoyed watching other people get injured.

It's the skill, the athleticism, the strength that we admire and love to watch, isn't it? Only partially. The truth is we like seeing other people get hurt. How else can the popularity of the Ultimate Fighting Championship be explained? Beginning quite recently in 1993, the UFC is the fastest growing sporting organization in the world, being broadcast to half a billion homes in 149 countries. 31 specific acts are considered foul play in UFC bouts,including headbutting and eye gouging, and the combatants don't use weapons,so it's relatively civilized conflict. Clearly not as barbaric as what the ancient gladiators engaged in, but it's still a bloodsport, isn't it? Two modern warriors trying to hurt each other to win money, and please the crowd.

We like other people's pain. How else can the popularity of arguably the worst show in the history of the television be explained? Funniest Home Videos serves up footage of people falling,crashing into things, being knocked over and suffering various mishaps which undoubtedly cause them some degree of pain and injury, and we laugh at them: have been laughing at them for decades. What's so funny about other people getting hurt? It's amusing because it's not us. It's not our suffering. We may feel empathy, or shock or disgust but we don't get hurt. We aren't the ones suffering so we laugh and cheer. It's sick, isn't it?

Maybe our obsession with the suffering of others is merely another one of our coping mechanisms. Another escape from our lives of misery and drudgery. Another anesthetic for our emotional and spiritual wounds which bleed continuously. Maybe we are all defined by suffering, both our own and that of other people. Maybe we are all broken, and as twisted as it may sound, we need pain, we may even want it. Maybe we are addicted to pain.

Truth Hurts

Truth is a hammer
Truth is a fist
Truth is a lightning strike that will not miss you
Stand up. Face it. Be a man.
Don’t be afraid of pain. Pain is good.

The Masochist Within

We must all be masochists. Gluttons for punishment. When it hurts we cry a river then we run back for a second helping. Please sir, can I have some more? We fall but we struggle up on our feet again. We want what we can't have and we drive ourselves insane in futile pursuit of it. Or if do we achieve the desired outcome, we find it's taste is not as sweet as we imagined and are forced to pretend it is delicious. We are fearlessly fragile. Knowing we are broken and vulnerable doesn't stop us from lining up for more pain. We warmly embrace suffering. We are mad, aren't we?

There is an alternative lifestyle available. It is peaceful and harmless, and experiencing the pleasure it promises only requires our surrender. All we need to do is give up. Stop trying. Stop striving. Want nothing more than what you have. Don't love anyone or allow them to love you because that is way too risky. Close your heart. Close your mind. Block out the misery and misfortune of others. Don't try to change what cannot be changed. Accept injustice.

How does that sound? Sounds to me like the pain is worth it. I choose option A. Thank you very much. I'm not going to go searching for trouble and problems but I'm not going to faint with fright when they come, and they will come. Nor am I going to run away. I choose to fight though I may suffer injury. I already carry the scars of previous battles and I cherish them. They have made me who I am. I won't invite suffering into my life, that would be stupid, but when it comes, and it will come, I will welcome it as irrefutable evidence that I am alive. I am really living not just passing the time. If that makes me a masochist...so be it.