The Mystery of Pain

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Abstract

strange to some to define pain as a mystery. Pain, however, is a mystery.</p><p id="d3d5">A mystery is defined as something that baffles the understanding and cannot be explained. This definition is simple but profound. It implies that anything that is termed a mystery must be beyond human understanding and therefore cannot be adequately expressed either verbally or otherwise. In the embodiment of this definition, the concept of pain is visualized. It is no news however that Pain is always uncomfortable, at least at first. Understanding the depth of pain and its mystery requires the mind to be open to reason and soul. Pain for the purpose of this article shall signify both emotional, physical, and psychological; all forms of pain including medical, as much as is found fit in its application.</p><p id="14d0">Just like the biblical expression of the definition of God’s word, Pain can be considered a double-edged sword. This description can better be understood by those who are familiar with the sword. A double-edged sword can be used on both edges. This quality confers a certain advantage to the sword, especially on the battlefield, but also makes its use delicate. There is less opportunity for mistakes when using a two-edged sword as any edge that is used affects the work. There is no safe side either, both edges are always armed.</p><p id="6f8d">The first edge of pain is the positive edge and of course, the other edge is the negative edge. These are so-called not because pain is of two types but rather because of the nature of the different outcomes of applied pain. This outcome depends on 3 factors; the person to whom the pain is applied, the magnitude of the applied pain, and the duration of its application. The main factor however is the Person and it is on this that most of this article is built, for the person is the only factor with substance. It is the person that (almost) always determines the outcome. Based on this, we can rather classify personalities as positive and negative. A positive person is one who is able to produce a positive outcome when pain is applied.</p><p id="5994">Pain itself is empty and directionless, just like a scalar quantity. It is formless and vague. Its mystery lies in the art of delivering form to it. Giving it direction and how this act is perfected is the dividing line between persons. It is therefore not surprising that Pain that can lead to life and joy in one can lead to death and gloom in another.</p><p id="a480">The positive person takes pain, though unpleasant, more strongly. He reaches into his soul, provides direction to pain, and ensures that it does not deviate from that direction until the outcome is as he requires. He does not allow pain to control him rather he takes control of it and gives it meaning and form, a positive form. Pain seeks to bend the person but the positive person decides if he wants to bend, and is only bent in the right direction (a direction he chooses). He causes a negative paralysis, paralyzing the negati

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ve edge of pain. He seeks the good out of pain and from it he gets virtues such as good ideas, goodwill, strength, and wealth, to mention but a few. At the end of the day, he comes out strong and unconquered. The negative person on the other hand is swallowed by its might. He either does not have an understanding of its concept or lacks the strength to give direction to its wheels. He causes a positive paralysis, paralyzing the positive edge of pain and eliciting the negative outcome of pain. When this individual experiences pain, it is not uncommon to see such outcomes as ill will, discouragement, poverty, and suicide. Pain to him is synonymous with death. For the positive person, it gets to a point that he expects pain and anticipates it’s good because he is always refined by it. The negative person trembles at the mention of pain and gives in to fear.</p><p id="f438">The keys to understanding the mystery of pain lie firstly, in understanding that every good thing one expects comes with pain, and good cannot be obtained without a degree of pain. Hence the saying, “Nothing good comes easy”. If we seek to turn pain to our advantage, we must first understand this concept. Another lie in realizing that pain comes empty and void, shapeless. We can shape it in the form we like. It comes directionless, we can give it direction. This is the beauty of pain. It is new, fresh, and helpless. We can either take strength from it or give it strength over us. Either way, our reaction to pain after all, whether we give it a form or not depends on if we have formed ourselves. You cannot give what you don’t have.</p><h2 id="0ac3">Call to action</h2><p id="b1db">What are your thoughts? I’d like to hear your thoughts and opinions, and of course, your criticisms too, bring them in! Jump in the comment section and tell me what you think.</p><div id="8bc9" class="link-block"> <a href="https://readmedium.com/what-would-you-do-for-love-95b0f16efa63"> <div> <div> <h2>What Would You Do for Love?</h2> <div><h3>Almost everybody agrees that love is a beautiful thing. In our world, there is no shortage of romantics who would extol…</h3></div> <div><p>medium.com</p></div> </div> <div> <div style="background-image: url(https://miro.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:320/0*bEWwEdIPkeHZz6Bh)"></div> </div> </div> </a> </div><div id="65c8" class="link-block"> <a href="https://readmedium.com/to-my-unknown-lover-51fad8bf7ab2"> <div> <div> <h2>To My Unknown Lover</h2> <div><h3>A poem</h3></div> <div><p>medium.com</p></div> </div> <div> <div style="background-image: url(https://miro.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:320/0*NcBYsSNAdBJ0JDQX)"></div> </div> </div> </a> </div></article></body>

Part 2

On 14th November 2022, I published a post here. It was a short note accompanied by a poem I had written in 2015, while I was in my third year of university. This poem, like the post, was titled The Mystery of Pain.

In this poem, I poured out my heart, telling everyone who cared to listen what pain meant to me, and how pain could be a good thing.

Yes, a good thing!

Although pain is associated with negativity, my poem made it clear that pain could be something desirable. That post got a considerable amount of views and claps. It was my most viewed article for the month!

A screenshot from a previous article by the author

In this post, I revealed that the poem wasn’t the only thing I had written in 2015. It was only one part of a 2 part series because I also wrote an article of the same title when I wrote the poem. I hoped that maybe someday I’ll find the courage to publish the article. Well,

Today is that day.

Ladies and gentlemen, allow me the honour to present to you an article I wrote on a fateful day in 2015. A younger version of me was curious enough to pen these words down. To preserve its integrity, I have resisted the temptation to make any changes to this article, apart from correcting a few spelling and typographical errors.

I sincerely hope that the younger me makes sense and that you find it insightful.

Enjoy…

The mystery of pain

Anytime we hear the word “mystery”, our mind automatically creates a picture to explain its concept, a picture of something unsolvable, unreachable. There are not a lot of things that are described as a mystery in our present world. Most things described as “a mystery” are occurrences, events, and results. Other entities like buildings and structures are rather described as “wonders”. It therefore would sound strange to some to define pain as a mystery. Pain, however, is a mystery.

A mystery is defined as something that baffles the understanding and cannot be explained. This definition is simple but profound. It implies that anything that is termed a mystery must be beyond human understanding and therefore cannot be adequately expressed either verbally or otherwise. In the embodiment of this definition, the concept of pain is visualized. It is no news however that Pain is always uncomfortable, at least at first. Understanding the depth of pain and its mystery requires the mind to be open to reason and soul. Pain for the purpose of this article shall signify both emotional, physical, and psychological; all forms of pain including medical, as much as is found fit in its application.

Just like the biblical expression of the definition of God’s word, Pain can be considered a double-edged sword. This description can better be understood by those who are familiar with the sword. A double-edged sword can be used on both edges. This quality confers a certain advantage to the sword, especially on the battlefield, but also makes its use delicate. There is less opportunity for mistakes when using a two-edged sword as any edge that is used affects the work. There is no safe side either, both edges are always armed.

The first edge of pain is the positive edge and of course, the other edge is the negative edge. These are so-called not because pain is of two types but rather because of the nature of the different outcomes of applied pain. This outcome depends on 3 factors; the person to whom the pain is applied, the magnitude of the applied pain, and the duration of its application. The main factor however is the Person and it is on this that most of this article is built, for the person is the only factor with substance. It is the person that (almost) always determines the outcome. Based on this, we can rather classify personalities as positive and negative. A positive person is one who is able to produce a positive outcome when pain is applied.

Pain itself is empty and directionless, just like a scalar quantity. It is formless and vague. Its mystery lies in the art of delivering form to it. Giving it direction and how this act is perfected is the dividing line between persons. It is therefore not surprising that Pain that can lead to life and joy in one can lead to death and gloom in another.

The positive person takes pain, though unpleasant, more strongly. He reaches into his soul, provides direction to pain, and ensures that it does not deviate from that direction until the outcome is as he requires. He does not allow pain to control him rather he takes control of it and gives it meaning and form, a positive form. Pain seeks to bend the person but the positive person decides if he wants to bend, and is only bent in the right direction (a direction he chooses). He causes a negative paralysis, paralyzing the negative edge of pain. He seeks the good out of pain and from it he gets virtues such as good ideas, goodwill, strength, and wealth, to mention but a few. At the end of the day, he comes out strong and unconquered. The negative person on the other hand is swallowed by its might. He either does not have an understanding of its concept or lacks the strength to give direction to its wheels. He causes a positive paralysis, paralyzing the positive edge of pain and eliciting the negative outcome of pain. When this individual experiences pain, it is not uncommon to see such outcomes as ill will, discouragement, poverty, and suicide. Pain to him is synonymous with death. For the positive person, it gets to a point that he expects pain and anticipates it’s good because he is always refined by it. The negative person trembles at the mention of pain and gives in to fear.

The keys to understanding the mystery of pain lie firstly, in understanding that every good thing one expects comes with pain, and good cannot be obtained without a degree of pain. Hence the saying, “Nothing good comes easy”. If we seek to turn pain to our advantage, we must first understand this concept. Another lie in realizing that pain comes empty and void, shapeless. We can shape it in the form we like. It comes directionless, we can give it direction. This is the beauty of pain. It is new, fresh, and helpless. We can either take strength from it or give it strength over us. Either way, our reaction to pain after all, whether we give it a form or not depends on if we have formed ourselves. You cannot give what you don’t have.