Pain hurts. It can be debilitating. Torturous. It can entrap us, leaving us defenceless and unable to escape.
And yet it's a simple, vital system that nature has developed to alert us to problems we might not otherwise detect. It's our friend. Without it alerting us to all manner of mental, emotional and physical problems, we'd not last the day.
Pain is, perhaps, our greatest teacher. And we ignore it at our peril. But it's tough love. And no wonder we fear it. Treat it. Numb it. Run from it. Deny it. Because it hurts like hell.
But if we can muster the courage to confront it, develop the humility to listen to it, invest the time to understand it, and summon the commitment to respond to it, we tread a sane and responsible path that can lead us to places we had no idea we were looking for.
Pain is not the enemy. The enemy is the hidden element which the pain is trying to alert us to. And when we utilise pain, whether it's in the body, mind or soul, it can lead us to salvation. There are levels of physical freedom, mental freedom and emotional freedom that cannot be found any other way. Only pain, with its merciless insistency, can motivate and direct us away from unknowable peril, and towards the hidden light beyond our known goals.