PAIN AIN’T EASY

Everyone carries around their own package of pain.  And each one of these packages is unique and distinguishable from the others.  It has been said that if we could all throw our packages of pain and life problems into one big pile and then choose a new package from the pile that we would choose the same one we threw in because it is the one we have grown accustomed to and are most familiar with.

It is also said that the pains and problems that come our way are in part determined by our ability to handle them.  We don’t get more than we can handle.  And when we feel challenged with too many pains and problems we need to gain strength in knowing that we already have the ability to overcome the challenge.

So what is going on with all the pain?  Why does everyone or almost everyone seem to be suffering?  And I don’t mean just pain, but real suffering.  Part of the reason is that today you’re suffering if you’re losing your hair, or if you’re overweight or if you have a little back pain or knee pain.  We are so dumbed down that in our high tech, push button, “I want it now” society we’re suffering if we can’t have “it” now.  Our threshold of pain tolerance is much lower than ever before.  We are losing the values that our country was founded on, that our forefathers and grandparents worked so hard for-of respect for God, respect for what is truly right, respect for a wholesome family, community and society, respect for hard work, and gratitude to God, family, community, and society for Godliness they exhibit.  We have been crossing over from a God-based, selfless, God-serving country to a selfish, self-oriented, “just do it” society without the wisdom to comprehend the consequences.

The consequence is pain and suffering out of proportion to anything imaginable. It is caused by lack of purpose, meaning, and understanding, and the loss of respect for the wisdom of the elders.  Pain is limited by meaningful hard work and a life which is centered and purposeful.

Pain at a very basic level is a feeling-a bad feeling.  But feelings are more complex than we generally are ready to accept or understand.

There is a basic level of pain that we all experience.  This is the pain of the soul which is entrapped and stuck in the body.  The soul would prefer to be free of the body without physical restrictions.  It did not choose to enter the body and did not have a choice of bodies.  The soul which struggles to find its true purpose and finds unity of purpose utilizing the body to do so will limit the level of soul pain.

Then there is the pain of the intellect.  The intellect is responsible for pain of our thought processes which includes our memory of childhood, growing up, and relationships, etc., our intellectual analysis of our current life situation and pain, and our  dreams and aspirations for the future.  It is also a reservoir where the pain of soul, intellect, emotions, and body get all jumbled together and can become indistinguishable.

Emotional pain is attributed to the heart where our feelings are thought to reside, and these feelings and emotions of pain can result from soul pain, intellectual pain, as well as physical pain.  Again we are seeing that the component sources of human pain are multifactorial, intertwined, and often inseparable.

Bodily pain involving any body parts can have its source in the painful location, but remember, the body is the vessel for the soul.  Any soul pain, and for that matter, any intellectual or emotional pain, can find expression in bodily pain.

And so bodily pain can have a specific bodily cause, but very often the existence of the pain, the severity of the pain, the frequency of the pain, the length of time it persists, as well as the susceptibility to respond to specific treatments, will depend on many complicated interrelated factors of the soul, intellect, emotions, and body.

None of us is perfect and there is no perfect existence.  Life without any pain is either that of a vegetable or you’re six feet under.  We’ve got to be thankful for our lives, and this includes the ability to experience pain. It is however, any excessive inordinate pain that we all would like to avoid.  This avoidance first necessitates a realistic understanding of life and realistic expectations.  We all will have pain thrown on us and we all have an ability to attract pain and bring it upon ourselves.  Contrary to certain philosophies of life, there is no achievable realistic ongoing “UMMMMM”.  Life is real and is full of ups and downs and twists and turns.

The best way to limit unnecessary pain is to have a concerted harmonious goal of connection and healthy transitioning through the journey of life of soul, intellect, emotions, and body.  The inherent complexity of human pain is why its treatment is so complicated, why there are so many doctor types and treatment types, and why so many people are never satisfied with treatment results.  American medicine generally addresses bodily sources of pain, and does not address the needs or pain relationship of the soul, intellect, emotions, and body.  This is a major reason why so many treatments, tests, procedures, and surgeries are performed which do not result in symptomatic relief-the doctors are looking for bodily sources of pain only, but very often there may be significant contribution to any bodily pain of soul, intellect, and emotional pain as well.

Healthy bodily exercise is essential for ongoing bodily health, and is also essential to optimize soul health, intellectual health, and emotional health.  One of the most basic bodily exercises that our bodies require is motion, and optimally full motion of muscles and joints.  Very few of us have been cognizant of this and therefore we see complex processes of pain involving soul pain, intellect pain, emotional pain, and bodily pain wrapped up in the guise of muscle and joint pain, such as low back pain.  A simple way to get started on the path to recovery and health is to incorporate the STRETCHING FOR PAIN RELIEF routine into your daily life.

When the STRETCHING FOR PAIN RELIEF routine is used as a first step to achieve balance in your day, the soul, intellect, emotions, and body are freed from their entrapments, distractions, and pain, and you can raise your pain threshold by connecting to the ultimate energy and power of the universe.  It is motion that keeps you young and vibrant.  Practice motion of body, emotions, intellect, and soul by performing the STRETCHING FOR PAIN RELIEF routine regularly with purpose and intention.