The Pain, The Opportunity To Grow As A Person

Sometimes the pain hurts… and sometimes it shakes with so much force that it seems difficult to get up from it. It is when we experience a painful event that we are, in a way, pushed into intense emotional processes. Processes in which we entered by our own inertia, but for which, if we wish to find the exit, we will require a lot of force. On the other hand, we will consume bitterness and pain.

In fact, staying transfixed in pain is a personal option. Thus, anchored in suffering, we avoid the inner journey which culminates in acceptance, in the serenity of understanding and in personal development.

Pain is inevitable, suffering optional

Both pain and suffering are a part of life. It should be noted that we often use these two terms as synonyms. On the other hand, in order to be able to manage them adequately, it is important to understand what makes them different.

Pain, in its psychological dimension, is an emotion that can arise in the face of specific situations and problems. It affects the physical, emotional and mental and lasts until the person is able to recover. In this sense, pain involves acceptance and contact with what we are feeling. It should also be pointed out that the period over which it is extended is proportional to the significance for us of the event which produced it.

On the other hand, the suffering goes further. When we experience an inability to accept reality and move on with our lives, suffering arises. This state will lead us once and then others to thoughts and emotions that will keep us out of balance and may make us sick. Thus, suffering would be an unnecessary consequence of pain.

It should be noted that the suffering takes much more intensity and lasts longer than the emotional pain, which can even last indefinitely. For example, pain is inevitable during the loss of a loved one. In the event that this injury fails to heal and heal, this is where the suffering begins. The latter prevents the possibility of acceptance and step forward.

Growth through pain

Post-traumatic growth takes place when the person accepts what has happened and rebuilds their beliefs. It is a process similar to that experienced by people rebuilding their homes after an earthquake. After a painful event, we have the opportunity to think about how we want to rebuild our life.

On the other hand, these new beliefs that we will annex to our plans also allow the development of resilience. Likewise, during this rebuilding process, a person has a habit of discovering strengths and characteristics that are unique to them and that they were previously unaware of.

It is that in reality, nothing has the power to make us miserable, except our own attitude. According to psychotherapist Joan Garriga, any loss can turn into an opportunity to grow as a person, to make us lighter and to free ourselves from our attachments and identifications.

In addition, the great risk of painful processes is not to surpass them and to settle in existential positions fueling suffering: complaint, victimization, revenge, rigidity, pride …  In this sense, it should be pointed out that pain is a process inherent in existence and it is important to believe and understand this to participate in it in a more rewarding way.

And on the way, someone learns …

Someone especially learns about what is painful, and ultimately, can cause pain. When we come into contact with the most overwhelming pain, we become aware of our fragility at the same time as we live a situation, which allows us like no other, to know our greatness. Our value.

It is on the way where one learns that everything changes and that the sun will always come out after a cloudy sky, with the beauty and strength of new sunrises. It is at this moment that we discover the force which inhabits our interior, by going beyond the painful path and the inertia which pushed us to cross this path.

On the path of pain we also observe that from each chaos, a new order emerges. A new order that integrates learning and experience to keep moving forward. Each time with more lightness, each time with more wisdom, each time with more sensitivity and the awareness that each moment of pain has the potential to be a moment of great transformations… and why not, great opportunities.