Would you erase pain from your life if you could?

1. 71

   ithabiseposted 13 years ago

   Would you erase pain from your life if you could?

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2. 86

   pstraubie48posted 13 years ago

   that is difficult to answer. the pain that i have felt and do feel has been, in large part, a contributing factor to who i am today. through all of the experience i have had both myself and my family members, i have learned to value what is really important. to value the presence of my love ones...on the planet...rather than any material thing,
   perhaps i would have learned that anyway, but i am not sure.
   so...as 'painful' as it is to have pain, i think it has been responsible for me being a better me.

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3. 61

   tamlee21posted 13 years ago

   I would love to say yes, but who or what would I be?  If I hadn't experienced tremendous pain in my life, I would probably just go through the motions of life.  Instead I live each day as if it's a gift.  I can appreciate all of the details others don't see.  I don't take myself or loved ones for granted any more.
   
   So...no.

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4. 70

   lburmasterposted 13 years ago

   No. Even though those times were difficult, they morphed me into how I am. I enjoy who I am and home I don't change any time soon.

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5. 61

   ALURposted 13 years ago

   I think a simple "yes" cannot suffice for it was pain that opened the mouth of great words to explode from the past and the pain I went through. What I would want most is to eliminate the suffering.
   Though I know that suffering is a great teacher.

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6. 80

   moiragallagaposted 13 years ago

   I'm tempted to say yes, but like the others here, the pain we experience in our lives is what helps us be who and what we are as we go through our life. It is like the fire that tempers steel, it makes us strong. Also, experiencing pain helps us learn to appreciate and value joy and our blessings a lot more.

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7. 61

   toys-everywhereposted 13 years ago

   I don't think so.
   I have fibromyalgia, so I feel physical pain almost every day of my life. Some days it is a struggle to MOVE in my bed, much more so to get OUT of it. Sometimes I think it's so unfair, that throughout my childhood, I was plagued by pain that I couldn't understand. It's unfair that, in my adolescence, my father tells me, "Oh, you're young," and begins to list the complaints of his aging body, treating me as though it's all in my head and I am an infernal liar.
   It's unfair that every other day, I get so tired all of a sudden that I just want to lay down and not ever get up, when this is the point in my life that I should be most vigorous and active-- enjoying life, physically. It's unfair that, after a few hours--sometimes just even minutes-- of walking, I have to drag my legs, in alternation, because they begin to ache until I want to cry. It's unfair that, when I lay down, my arm goes numb, and then hurts. It's unfair that, as I sit studying, in an instant I feel as though I have run several marathons and should just about collapse, when I have not moved for a half hour.
   It's all unfair, if I think about it in this way. But it is more fair in one very important way. I know what it is to be in pain. I know what it is to not be able to do what you earnestly want to do. I know what it is, to have your body almost literally be a prison. I am young, but I already know what it is to be old. I am an empathetic person by nature, but I have literally, "been there, done that", and I have better relationships with people who are far older than me, than I do with youths my own age. I have learned more from such people than I otherwise would have, even on my own. It is a different way of life that I might never have found, without my daily dose of pain I am now different, in so many ways.
   So, if I had the chance and the choice, no, I would not erase pain. You learn from every piece of the pain you get.

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8. 61

   duffsmomposted 13 years ago

   Some of it, yes.  I think our emotional pain tends to form us as people - but enough is enough! So I would lessen the past emotional pain somewhat.  I would definitely get rid of the physical pain I have.

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9. 58

   WendyAnthroposted 13 years ago

   My rational, scientific brain would answer: No, pain occurs to tell your brain that something is wrong with your body. If you didn't have pain you wouldn't know that you're sitting on your foot and cutting off your circulation or that you've placed your hand on a hot burner and will do irreparable damage to yourself if you don't correct the action. Pain also lets us know when we are sick or when we are approaching the limitations of our body's range of movement (hopefully before injury). When we are injured or sick, pain reminds us to take it easy. Our brains learn and form an automatic response to painful stimuli so that we don't repetitively endanger ourselves. The ability to feel and interpret pain is one of the brain's many evolutionary adaptations and began with the first organisms who possessed central nervous systems.
   
   The emotional half would answer the same as many others in this thread: Still, no. There have certainly been times in my life where I have been in severe physical or emotional pain and have wished that it would go away or that I could erase it. However, I know that finding the strength to endure it or the courage to remedy it has been a major source of growth, reflection, and motivation in my life. If my life had been easy and pain-free, I might have enjoyed it more but I wouldn't be the person I am today. There's a saying that goes something like, "How can we know true love, goodness, and joy if we don't experience hatred, evil, and pain?". I think this poignantly illustrates the necessity of the duality of the nature of life. No Yin without Yang, no black without white, no up without down, no positive without negative.

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10. 59

    Nicola Tweedieposted 13 years ago

    No, pain has acted in my life to help me: move away from things that are bad for me; take time and rest; appreciate vulnerability; learn the beauty of help from others; give to those I would have otherwise ignored; and learn to be still.

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11. 52

    michelegoldsteinposted 13 years ago

    I have erased emotional pain from my life through my beliefs and unconditional acceptance of myself, others and life situations. I have also minimized physical pain by recognizing it as a message from my higher self and using a Louise Hay book (Heal Your Body) to interpret the pains emotional root and following up with the afformations. So my answer is a definate YES!

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12. 36

    alisha4uposted 13 years ago

    Ofcourse, don't know about others...But, i would love to eradicate pain from my life...

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