On day 76, just two days after my race, I wrote about what pain feels like to me. Go back and read this blog if you have the chance. I was feeling every word I wrote that day. The physical pain of the impact of the race, and the pain one feels when love taken a good bite.
I'm here to tell you, that one of top lessons I've learned in the last 100 days, is that there is no such thing as pain. It is all in your mind, and you do have a choice to stop feeling it.
Crazy. I know... but let me explain.
Wikipedia explains that regular exposure to pain will increase your tolerance to pain. I have experienced this in my training. Running a 5k was incredibly painful in the beginning, but with repeated running this distance, the body soon became accustomed to the pain, and further distance was achieved before pain would set in. Of course, simultaneously, my body became stronger, managed oxygen and carbohydrates better, grew muscle mass and became more efficient at running. I now can run 3 hours with minimal pain, however, upon adventuring into the 4th hour my body begins to tell my brain it is too much and I begin to feel the pain of my efforts.
Have you ever cut yourself, and at first the pain is LOUD and obvious but it soon decreases to nearly a null? This is because the nervous system is telling you, your brain, that there is a problem. Once the brain is aware, that you know there is a problem and are dealing with it, the pain diminishes. This is true in so many area's of our physical realm. I have often used this knowledge to my advantage. As soon as I feel pain, I tell myself (yes, I do talk to myself) "I know. I feel it. It's okay. You don't need to tell me anymore". My brain then moves on, and the pain diminishes. We have the power of mind over matter. We only need to read about so many historical lessons in this knowledge to realize the power we truly have over our bodies, and especially our sensitivity to pain.
Why do you think taking a pain killer stops the pain? - it basically interferes with the messages travelling along the nervous system to the brain, either at the site of the injury, in the spinal cord or in the brain itself. Thus if you can take something to stop the brain from telling you there is pain, then you can tell your brain you don't need the message sent. Mind over matter.
I really do believe we have a choice. I say that even though I still feel. I haven't yet mastered this advice, but I do believe it is true and it is a lesson I wish to share and continue to practice.
Wikipedia also indicates that in some cases there is evidence to support the theory that "the greater exposure to pain will result in more painful future exposures." They say that having repeated incidents and exposure to pain teaches your body to respond quicker to minor pain in future. Once bitten twice shy? Yes. But I believe we have power over our minds here too... do not allow your mind to dictate what you can, or cannot tolerate. It is only a nervous system. It isn't real.
Think about when you've gone to the dentist to get a cavity filled. The dentist will normally use a topical anesthetic. This gel is used to numb the oral mucosa in a specific area where the injection is going to take place. This creates a temporary numbing of the nerve endings, making the injection less painful. So if our nerve endings are the only things telling us something is painful, pain isn't real.
I was recently at the physiotherapist for my whiplash being treated by "electrotherapy". She basically placed four pads on my upper back below my neck, and had an electrical current applied through them, which I was told convinces the brain that there is pain in a specific area, causing the brain to bring in potent chemicals to help "cure" and repair the area. If we can fake pain in the brain, we can also remove it. Ourselves. Without drugs or painkillers. Mind over matter. I believe we have this choice.
So you are afraid to get hurt ? What is being hurt ? It is the brain telling us we've had a painful experience... I think if we can be smart, we will quickly thank the brain for this feedback, and move on. Life is too short to stop living, feeling, and loving because we might get hurt again.
Yes, we could miss the pain... but we'd have to miss the dance. I choose to dance. The dance for me, is much more worth it, than to be safe and protected.
If and when the pain begins... I'll be ready. Just like racing the Ironman next year, I know it is going to hurt. I'm ready for it. I'll talk myself through it. I'll put my mind over the matter... with strength and motivation... I'll convince my brain that I'm going to survive this pain, that it will not take me over, it will not stop me from progressing, and not only will I endure and finish that race, I will rise above the pain of love lost... and I will love again. You can too. Have no fear, and know your pain is all in your mind. If you can get through that challenge, there is nothing you cannot achieve.
Do we have any choice in life but to get our minds around surviving our pain? I don't think so. If we don't overcome it, we succumb to it... and where are we then?
I have proven to myself, that I can be hurt physically and emotionally and I'm still here.
So why would I back away in fear now??
Live on.
xo
"I just feel pain. A lot of pain. I thought I could imagine how much this would hurt, but I was wrong.”
― Haruki Murakami, South of the Border, West of the Sun
“Pain is temporary. Quitting lasts forever.”
― Lance Armstrong, Every Second Counts
“One word
Frees us of all the weight and pain of life:
That word is love.”
― Sophocles
“I was not allowed to think of him. That was something I tried to be very strict about. Of course I slipped; I was only human. But I was getting better, and so the pain was something I could avoid for days at a time now. The trade-off was the never-ending numbness. Between pain and nothing, I'd chosen nothing.”
― Stephenie Meyer, New Moon
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