Ramblings Part I - On Pain.

"Pain, you just have to ride it out, hope it goes away on its own, hope the wound that caused it heals. There are no solutions, no easy answers, you just breath deep and wait for it to subside. Most of the time pain can be managed but sometimes the pain gets you where you least expect it. Hits way below the belt and doesn't let up. Pain, you just have to fight through, because the truth is you can't outrun it and life always makes more." - Grey's Anatomy

Nobody likes pain. Well... near nobody.

But we're not talking about physical pain here.

Nope, physical pain is easy. A couple of panadols and a nice big shot of whiskey, physical pain goes away like magic.

The pain that comes from inside on the other hand...

In the day, it's easier to deal with. There are always distractions - Work, friends, a thousand and one activities to keep us relatively numb and our attention elsewhere.

It's when the sun goes down, and you're lying in your bed, all by yourself that gets a little difficult. I think it was Terry Prachett that said that everybody is alone behind the eyes.

There is the pain, that reminds you that your heart is still human, that you can still care, and that you can still love. Shite happens, and whilst there is always a lesson to the shit... it doesn't mean that lessons do not hurt.

Truth is, we humans don't forget painful things very well. We're bloody ungrateful, and the good things we easily take for granted and throw at the back of our heads. Memories of the bad painful things though, take a lifetime to forget.

At the same time, it's those times where we are truly in pain, that we grow the most. It's those times, when we hurt like mad, that our brains start to work and we start to delve deep into ourselves, and learn who we really are, and grow.

Whatever caused the pain is now part of your history, part of your life. That won't go away. Accept it, embrace it, and master it, or it will master you. Ignoring it won't make it go away. But when you incorporate it into yourself, you become better for it.

Don't grow callused to pain. When you stop feeling, you stop loving. And when you stop loving, you die.

Don't grow hard and cynical. It is in pain, that you find the most beauty. In the deepest, darkest pits, hope and love shine the brightest.

Don't give up, or give in. You are so much stronger that you are.

The blade is not honed by gentle taps. Ore is not refined by a soft warm heater. It is ok to cry, to weep, to shout and feel down and shitty. Let it out, feel the pain, revel in it, then take it, and make it part of you.

And only through this constant cycle will you reach your own true potential, and find, yourself.

Dedicated to a dear friend, who asked for this post to be up.