Many of us tremble at the sight of pain and our feet sways at the promise of pleasure. I found out that sometimes, it is healthy to remind us about pain. Let me explain...
- Pain makes us stronger. When I started excercising again, the first few days would most often be very painful for me. My muscles ache, my legs are tired and my arms feel like they're gonna drop off. However, when our body aches, it only means that our body is developing well.
- Pain makes us wiser. Have you been scalded before? I have. Now, whenever I am near hot water, I am more careful.
- Pain makes us take of our surroundings. Our normal reaction to pain is that we would withdraw. Our reflexes works in such a way that when we detect pain, we would quickly move away from it. We take notice of the danger signs around us.
- Pain makes us take notice of ourselves. When you are hurt, you tend to take notice on those areas. You begin to be more self-concious.
I'd like to highlight to you the point where our natural self would withdraw from any pain that is afflicted on us. In most cases, we would quickly run away towards the promise of pleasure.
- Losing weight vs. ice cream
- Homework vs. play
- Church Morning Prayer vs. sleep
- Work vs. holiday
- Tithing vs. spending
Why? Because the promise of pleasure gives us satisfaction. But nothing eludes us more than the promise of pleasure! How many times have we said, "I'd do this later", "I'll do this tomorrow", etc? We procrastinate on things that we perceive as painful activities. "Only one bite, that won't destroy my weight loss regime" but the truth is that perceive that it won't but in actual fact, it will.
One way to overcome this is to look at the effects of pain and what are the benefits we could get if were to stick to it and endure the pain in our lives? For example, I'd like to lose 10 pounds. The pain of having to lose that much is that I can't eat good glorious food for a while but the benefit is that I would be healthy. This way, I would learn to see that is promise after pain. And the reward you reap after a hard days work is more than what we can ever imagine.
I would like to challenge you to think of one area of your life which you are putting off. Start taking action now. NOW! Not tomorrow, but NOW! Even if it requires you to sacrifice. Think of the benefits you would reap once you get that job/activity done. You won't regret it...
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