What if Pain is actually the Path?
Today, most people I talk to have an identity label that they would rather not have. Stressed Overwhelmed Depressed Anxious Scared Broke Sick It seems, to me at least, that our struggles and even our diagnoses become portals when we redefine our relationship with them. Pain is part of the deal - physical pain and emotional pain is part of the deal. But what if we stopped attaching labels? What if we stopped telling stories about the pain? 🚨Full Transparency Warning! I’ve been diagnosed and prescribed medication for PTSD, depression, anxiety, and ADHD. I’ve also had seasons of serious drug addiction. Today I don't drink or use drugs. Nor do I identify with the label: Addict. Nor do I identify with the emotional pain labels the doctor gave me. And let me be clear about something most people won’t say out loud. It was hard to stop doing something that made me feel better. Suffering sucks. Trust me, I know it sucks. But what if suffering is unnecessary? What if suffering exists because of our stories and label attachment? For me, suffering didn’t end because pain disappeared. Emotional pain visits me on a daily basis these days. Not so much, today, though. Suffering ends when we restructure the relationship our mind/body complex has with pain. When the nervous system reorganizes. When awareness leads instead of fear. For me, the solution started by feeling the pain without repeating the story. This led to something I call: Presence Awareness Presence Awareness is the "Champion State" I refer to in the N.E.A.T. frameworks. Presence Awareness shifts perspective It aligns intention And it shifts timelines The old cliché holds true: The way out is through Bring the Ogres out of the dungeon of darkness and dance with them in the Light. Just to be clear... Pain still comes and goes. Life still moves. Challenges still arise. But suffering passes quickly now. Suffering passes through like storms in a sky that is infinitely blue. Not because I’m numb. Not because I’m bypassing.