Thoughts on Pain

Posted on 17. Feb, 2010 by Keith Scott in Blog

No one can deny the reality of pain. We have all heard the voice of pain and suffered its stronghold one time or another. We all deal with pain in different ways…some submit right away when they reach the edge of their comfort zone, while others struggle so much against this unyielding force of pain, that their performance plummets to less than acceptable. Frustration can set in and the power of the pain wins yet another battle.

When we are back in the “comfort” zone, we ask ourselves how we could have given in…it seemed so easy, but we soon remember that this pain is an illusion and seems to be relative only to our present actions. In other words, pain is only REAL when we are presently caught in its trap, and only in that moment can we understand it, learn from it, and make peace with it.

The best way to prepare for pain is to accept it when it is happening to you, and take small steps to deal with it, then and there. Afterwords, when you are in your comfort zone, it is too late. It doesn’t seem to have the same hold or effect on you when it is not happening, it just isn’t ‘real’ anymore.

Just like all things in life, we learn to adapt to such things as pain. The more times that we experience pain in different situations, the more we can potentially adjust to it mentally and physically. Once we do this, we have a higher threshold for it the next time out. Whether the pain is physical, such as a very painful ankle sprain, or mental, like the pain someone feels when they miss the game winning shot, it must be dealt with in an affective way or it will control us and take us away from our goals.

What is pain? Pain can be thought of as physical pain, where the nerve endings in our bodies give a noxious stimulus to our brain and thus pain is felt. On the other hand, pain can be mental, where our mind cannot deal effectively with the situation at hand, so frustration and chaos set in and we feel a painful sense of being. Sometimes this mental pain can be the hardest to deal with and get by. Regardless, whether physical or mental, it zaps us of our initial focus and takes away our goals for the day…whether they are to train to a certain intensity, or win a race. Therefore, we must find a way to face this pain and learn to go through it.

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