PAIN IS AN ILLUSION

When I was a child I hated running. My lungs would burn, my muscles would ache and my mind would cry mercy. Not much has changed. The only major difference, is that now I thrive off that pain. The hurt fuels me.

Someone once described long distance running to me as, “Pain tolerance and will.” I’m by no means a world-class runner, but I do it almost every day and I can say he was right. Ignoring that pain and moving forward is the only thing you have to do to be a successful runner.

I should point out, there is a difference between moving through pain and moving through injury. Some injuries I’ve had have actually gotten better from continuing to run and others have gotten worse. Just be smart about it.

What I’m talking about here is that indefinable part of some people’s minds that allows them to push through pain. Everyone has this to a certain extent. I would say on one end of the spectrum would be Navy SEALS who have just about the strongest mental discipline imaginable. Then on the other end of the spectrum is the couch potato who numbs his pain with distractions and avoidance.

I remind myself of this every time I want to quit. Usually it works, and other times my mind fights back. I’ve literally walked out the door to run, went down the stairs, and then walked right back up to my apartment. It happens; because there are just some days where I’m so tired, depressed and beaten down I can’t bring myself to get out there. The key is minimizing those days.

Also every single time I run there are moments where everything hurts, I can’t breathe and I want to stop. Then my mind says no and I keep going. I keep pushing. I’ve found the more I do this the easier it gets.

So what is pain then? Well if it’s a thing that we can control then it’s almost certainly real. People can feel other people’s pain when they sympathize and we can cause other people pain in many different ways. So it can be felt and transferred. But is it real?

I would argue no, because it’s entirely within our own mind. It’s an illusion meant to protect us from further harm. It’s the brains way of telling us to watch out this could be dangerous for us. 

So if we all have different tolerances for pain and therefore perceive danger differently, then we can only see the limits by looking at the people who have pushed them. This is what I remind myself every time I want to give up at something. 

What would happen if I kept going? Usually the answer is nothing. I just feel more pain, which I can push away. When I do this there are a few brief moments where all that’s left inside me is a vacuum. But this vacuum slowly starts to fill up with strength and will, which pushes me onward.

Our pain is an artifice meant to strengthen us. When it tests us it also pushes us out a little farther into the sea of humanity and the farther out we go the more we discover. We all feel pain; the only difference is how deep and far each of us is willing to go into those endless waters.