"Pain"

Recently, I experienced a dramatic motorcycle accident.  Fortunately, with the exception of some rather grisly scratches and burns on my hands and arms, I walked away relatively unscathed.  The pain, however, of the accident has lingered both physically and emotionally.  Because I am unable to escape the discomfort of scabbing burns across my forearms, I have been forced to reflect on the ideology of pain.

I have decided that pain is not always bad.  It is, however, resultant of negative situations.  But, unlike roads to destinations, which are clearly right and wrong (ethical), and good or bad (moral), the objective itself is often more ambiguous.  Hypothesis: Pioneers traveling west will reach the West Coast.  If the covered wagons head east (in the “wrong direction”, ethically speaking), they will not reach the West Coast.  If they approach mountains and try to travel over the range (a “bad” decision, morally speaking), they will not reach the West Coast.  Thus, the means by which they travel hold significant ethical and moral implications.  However, the West Coast is neither good nor bad.  It is merely a destination, potentially blocked or reached depending on the route taken.  And, if the route leads to mountains, or the East Coast, neither destination is inherently wrong or bad, but rather a detour destined to clarify the correct path.  I see these alternative destinations analogous to pain. 

Pain allows us to reflect on mistakes made, on the good and bad road selection, and ultimately inspires us to determine the right path.  Life is so incredibly busy and preposterously convoluted with excessive minutia, we find ourselves annoyed when pain occurs.  The loss of a loved one, the breaking of our heart, the breaking of our arm, or the aching of our head all are perceived as something negative, when in reality, they are simply neutral results of a negative path forcing us to reexamine our own lives, relationships, choices, and desires. 

Advice:  The next time you experience pain, try to not focus on the destination, but the road that got you there.  See both physical and emotional pain as a reminder of our decisions.  If you only look at  the negative elements, you will undoubtedly never take the right road to reach the intended destination.