At one time in my life, I could endure a lot of pain.  It had to get to the level that was so high before I would really pay attention to it.  Usually in those situations, the situation was so dire that it would require going to the emergency room or a doctor for muscle relaxants and pain pills.  I remember a few times that I was barely able to drive myself to the emergency room to get medical attention.  Can you imagine that?

Not too long ago, I would have thought this was all a normal and standard part of living in life.  Everyone gets pain, right?  Everyone learns that you just have to suck it up and move on, right?  After all, our jobs, families and other responsibilities don’t allow us to be down with pain and physical problems.  How many times have you heard someone tell you to just “buck up” or “suck it up” and move on?  I bet if we were given a nickel for every time we heard that, we’d all be rich and wealthy.

Now I’m learning in life that there is another way.  Of course, it took me going to the point of paralysis before I woke up a little.  Yes, you heard me correctly.  I was paralyzed from a Conversion Disorder, which is where you take various traumatic events in your life and just stuff them deep down inside until you can’t function any more.  It is rare to be in this psychological state, but unfortunately, I’m living proof that it does happen.  And if you want a wakeup call in life, try being paralyzed and almost seeing your life end before your eyes.  If that doesn’t wake you up, not much will!

I suppose you’re sitting here reading this and thinking, “what is this guy suggesting”?  I’m glad you’re asking that question.  Then I’m assuming you’re probably thinking – what’s next, he’s going to tell me to feel the pain?  Wow, how did you hit the nail on the head so quickly?  You’re exactly right!  And now I’m sure you’re most likely sitting there reading this and probably uttering under your breath that I’m just plain nuts.  Nope, this is first-hand experience I am writing from here, and it isn’t just a pie in the sky concept.

See, our bodies have a built-in mechanism to help get our attention and help us evolve or work through things in our lives to move us forward in life.  That mechanism is “pain”, “discomfort” and various other things.  So often though, when the pain comes along, we say “we don’t want to feel this”, and we look for ways to numb it out, attempt to get rid of the pain, do surgeries to eliminate the pain and so on and so forth.  However, in the end, we really didn’t get rid of the pain, we just put a Band-aid on a gushing wound and thought we solved the problem.  The source of the pain (the message) is still there in the body.  All we’ve done is tried to silence the pain by applying Band-aids to it.

I know, I know – this concept may be totally foreign to you and you may be laughing so hard at me, but like I’ve said, I’ve experienced this concept over and over in my own life.  If you think you have a high tolerance to pain, I would suggest that it is most likely your ability to numb out the pain – to not feel it, to act as if it doesn’t exist.  However, as I have learned in my own life and that of others, the more you try to numb it out or act as if it doesn’t exist – the more the body says “I’ll Get Your Attention”.  And the body will get your attention in some way or another.  It doesn’t give up.  It keeps trying to say “hello, pay attention to me, I’ve got a message for you”.

Most medical procedures, drugs, supplements, and many of the “feel good holistic therapies” out there just work to numb the pain.  I get some information all the time in the mail about massage training that emphasizes “we get rid of pain or we eliminate pain”!  I’m sorry, but that’s not what is going to help anyone heal.  It is by going into the pain, that we allow ourselves to heal.  Yes, that is not easy to do and no, it is not comfortable, but when you connect the mind and body together as one without the fear, you can then go into the pain and find healing at the source level.

I’m not suggesting that you can do this on your own in the beginning, but I am merely trying to raise the bar of possibilities within our human culture.  You may need someone that has already walked down the road you are traveling to help show you the way.  Ultimately, each of us has the ability to go past the fear, into the pain, and find healing for our lives.  Healing doesn’t come in some therapy, or some new age philosophy or a drug, doctor or surgery.  Healing comes from within us.  It is part of us and we are a part of it.

For legal purposes, please don’t go stop what you are doing that was medically prescribed by your doctor after reading this.  Check things out and take care of yourself in the proper way before you make a major change.  There is a time and place for doctors, medications, surgeries and alternative treatments, but there is also a time and place for each of us to learn just how powerful the fears are in our lives and how much they prevent us from listening to our own bodies and our own internal health.

Learning to listen to your body and learning to go into the pain is one of the greatest gifts you can give yourself.  It is the gift that keeps on giving.  We were not put on this earth to exist in our human form.  We were put on this earth to reach our full potential and to grow, learn and experience all that life has for us.  Yes, many of us have been beaten down pretty bad in life.  I am one of those, but the rewards of learning to be at one with your body are so much greater than the struggle through the process.

If you only remember one thing from what I’ve written, I hope you will remember that true healing comes from within – not from outside sources!


By Don Shetterly
January 11, 2010
www.donshetterly.com
Mind Body Thoughts

Reprinted by permission from the Mind Body Thoughts Blog


Back to Articles of Interest