Pain Management

Pain Management

And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them. Romans 8:28

For most people, pain is a powerful teacher. But not for my son Jordan. He’s one of the few people in the world with congenital insensitivity to pain. In other words, he doesn’t feel pain the way the rest of us do. He has never learned to avoid dangerous objects because cuts and stitches aren’t unpleasant to him. Small cuts can turn into long hospital stays because he’ll run around on an open wound without feeling the pain. The infection can spread to the bone before we discover the problem. So we have to teach Jordan to notice wounds and deal with them at an intellectual level rather than as a response to the pain they cause.

Aristotle said, “We cannot learn without pain.” I wish we could, but I believe God allows it for a reason. When we have the negative feedback of an unpleasant feeling—whether it’s physical, emotional, or spiritual—we learn how to avoid the dangers and problems that would otherwise infect us and threaten our health. The pain is an important warning signal to protect us from further harm. Without it, we would miss many of life’s most important lessons.

None of us likes to learn life’s lessons the hard way, but it’s better than not learning them at all. We would rather not experience the pain of mistakes and failures, but the experience makes us stronger and teaches us valuable truths. It’s great when others can pass on to us the things they have learned, but many times their advice isn’t enough. Most of us have to experience the hard lessons of life on our own for them to really sink in and become a part of our character.

Learn whatever you can from other people’s mistakes. Let their pain become your teacher. But there will be times when your own pain is the only way to learn life’s deepest lessons, and those are the ones that stick. Those who are wise will take every opportunity to learn from everything they experience.

Uncommon Key > Don’t waste the hard lessons of life, even if they are extremely painful. Experience can be a terrific teacher.