Pain: A Trusted Advisor

I remember one day many, many years ago when my youngest son was about 6 (he is now an adult). He tripped and hurt himself and he came to me crying and said “I wish I never felt hurt”.
We then sat down to have a talk about the special cells in our body that make us feel pain when we have an injury. As the conversation progressed, my son began to teach me.

He explained that it is okay after all to feel pain: Teaching me that we feel little hurts so we will know when we have an “ouchie”, and we can do something about it before we end up hurt really bad.

This got me to thinking. How many times have I (all of us) ignored the little pains that were a signal of greater discomfort to come? Not necessarily physical pains, mind you, but emotional and mental pains as well.

Pain is an Important Sensor

We all understand that pain can be useful.

For example, if you didn’t feel pain when you accidentally hammer your thumb, step on a rusty nail, or put your hand on a hot stove, you could continue to hammer your thumb until it was pulverized, let the rusty nail injury go untreated until your leg had to be removed from gangrene, or let your hand rest on the hot burner until you were left with nothing but a charred stump.

Pain and discomfort are simply ongoing feedback, directing you to stop something or adjust it.

Your discomfort may be telling you something you already know, like you ate too much, didn’t get enough sleep, or twisted your ankle. Or it may be a sign of something you are not aware of. Perhaps your lethargy is due to anemia, or that pain in your abdomen is a warning of an impending appendix rupture.

But what about the emotional, intellectual, and spiritual discomfort we regularly experience?

Our emotional and even spiritual selves operate in a similar fashion as our physical selves. We experience discomfort and pain when things are not right. And don’t they lead to greater problems, just as well, if they are left unattended just as a physical wound would?

Pain Signals a Need for Action

Recognizing the problem, however, is not enough.

Removing your hand from the stove and pulling the rusty nail from your foot are starters, but then we must tend to the injury. Short-term AND long-term aid may be necessary. And time to allow the injury to heal is crucial. This is true for emotional and physical wounds.

Some of us have better pain control in certain areas. And, some of us know which pains require immediate or serious attention and which are minor “boo boos”.

We all know of, even if we don’t know them personally, people that have quit listening to their emotional and spiritual pain voices and now are virtually walking around emotionally or mentally charred, infected and mangled.

How much time do you spend avoiding pain instead of learning from it?

When you notice little discomforts do you take actions to keep them from becoming big ones, or do you keep ignoring them until you have fewer options and the pain is almost unbearable?

Pain and discomfort can be our most trusted advisors. Telling us when things are not right and when we need to adjust our course. If only we are willing to heed the advice.

Are you feeling pain or discomfort in your relationship? What is the pain/ discomfort telling you? What do you need to do to keep your pain or discomfort from getting worse?

Taking early steps minimize the degree of injury and allow you to get on the track to healing sooner! Take that step, or steps … Now!

Here’s to a healthy relationship!