Pain, An Opportunity To Grow As A Human Being
Sometimes life hurts… and sometimes it shakes us so hard that it seems almost impossible to get up again. When we live through a painful event, we experience intense emotional processes. Processes we have been forced into by reality itself, and which we need a lot of strength to get out of. Because if we do not, bitterness and pain will devour us. It’s about growing through pain, about growing as a human being.
In fact, being stuck in our pain is a personal choice. If we remain rooted in our suffering, we will miss the inner journey that culminates in acceptance, in the silence of understanding and in personal development.
Pain is inevitable, suffering optional…
Both pain and suffering are a part of life. We should point out that we often use these two terms as synonyms. But in order to handle them properly, it is important to understand what sets them apart.
Pain, in its psychological dimension, is a feeling that can occur in certain situations or problems. It affects us physically, emotionally and mentally and lasts until the person can recover. In this sense , pain involves acceptance and being in touch with what we feel. It should also be noted that the time the pain lasts is proportional to the size of the event that produced it for us.
On the other hand, the disorder goes a step further. Suffering occurs when we have an inability to accept reality and move on with our lives no matter what. This state of mind will again and again bring us to thoughts and feelings that will make us unbalanced and can make us sick. In this case, suffering will be an unnecessary consequence of pain.
It should be noted that suffering takes much more intensity and lasts longer than emotional pain, and can last indefinitely. For example, pain is inevitable with the loss of a loved one. If this wound is not healed and closed, then that is when we will experience suffering. The latter hinders the possibility of acceptance and growth.
Grow through pain
Post-traumatic growth occurs when the person accepts what has happened and reconstructs their beliefs. It is a similar process as when a person has to build the house after an earthquake. After a painful event, we take the opportunity to think about how we want to rebuild our lives.
In addition, this new belief that we accept also promotes the development of resilience. Similarly, during this process of rebuilding, the person usually discovers strengths and qualities that they did not know they had.
After all, it is our attitude that has the power to make us miserable. According to psychotherapist Joan Garriga , any loss can be an opportunity to grow as a human being, to find relief and to free us from healing.
In the same way , the great risk in any painful process is that we cannot overcome it, and that we only settle down with attitudes that nurture suffering: complaint, feeling of being a victim, revenge, stiffness, pride. In this sense, it should be noted that pain is a natural process in life, and it is important to grow as human beings and understand what we experience in a more enriching way.
Learn along the way
In life we learn about what is painful and what can cause us to suffer. When we come in contact with the heartbreaking pain, we become aware of our weakness. At the same time, we also put ourselves in a position that can enable us to know our value.
And it is on this path where one learns that everything changes and that after the clouds disappear, the sun will always shine again with the beauty and strength of a new tomorrow. And this when we discover the power that lives in us. The strength that helps us overcome the difficult paths and the slowness that pushes us on them.
On the path of pain, we also see that a new order always comes out of chaos. A new order that has combined learning and experience to keep us moving forward. These times of pain can become easier and easier to cope with, and can give us more and more peace, and have the potential to be times of great change, and of course of great opportunities.
