I think most of us can agree that system of ‘no pain, no gain’ can be a pain in the ass and needs to be
seriously re-jiggered. Now I'm not saying I have a better approach than this
pain/gain thing that's been in place for years, but that doesn't mean we
couldn't start tossing around some ideas. For instance, why an infrastructure for life couldn't be developed around the theme,
"no dream, no gain?" Sounds like heaven, right? Or is dreaming too
easy? Would life quickly become complacent and cease to gain? But then, is gain
really that critical? Or is gain the whole point? Is the fact that life exists
at all proof that God or the universe hates complacency? It certainly
explains why aboriginal people are constantly being murdered for the sake of "progress."
It is especially important when pain comes our
way to honor the experience, because our natural tendency is to push it away
and move past it as quickly as possible. We tend to want to brush it under the
rug. Yet, if we don't, it reveals itself to be a great friend and teacher. As counter-intuitive as it seems, we can honor pain by thanking it and by welcoming
it into the space of our lives. We all know that often the more we resist
something, the longer it persists. When we honor our pain, we do just the
opposite of resisting it, and as a result, we create a world in which we can
own the fullness of what life has to offer.
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