Don't ignore your pain, it's telling you something....

None of us like pain and would probably prefer to have to deal with as little of it as possible.

But alas, painful as pain is, it is unfortunately a price that comes with being alive.

Pain is not only painful however, it can also be helpful. It signals to us that there is something we need to attend to.

A toothache sends us to the dentist to fix our teeth, a stomach ache sends us to a doctor to fix our stomach ache, persistent anxiousness sends us to a mental health professional to fix our mental state, etc.etc. On offer in these technologically enlightened days are many varieties of pain management methods, which in my view is good considering how differently many of us experience pain.

When it gets tricky, is when we experience pain that is hard to define exactly where it hurts, as for instance with existential/emotional pain as in: what is my purpose in life, or the pain of a broken heart, or the pain of loneliness, or the pain of an enduring sense of hopelessness.

How does one explain, and to whom exactly does one explain, that one's "soul" hurts?

(Pain that we don't know how to define yet experience as very real can at times (in my view) affect our lives and well being on par with a persistent and severe headache.)

If pain is a signal for us to pay attention to something, what happens if we ignore it?

Physical pain more often than not gets our attention quite quickly, after all, our lives may depend on it, when it comes to emotional/spiritual/existential pain however, we often do not see that kind of pain as a threat to our continued existence therefore we often use different procrastination techniques: ignore it, numb it, drug it, mask it, play it down, pretend it's not there, make ourselves so busy we can't feel it, etc.etc.

However, ignoring or not acknowledging emotional pain when it rears its head can often have a snowball effect......in the end rolling right over us and so big we can no longer differentiate between what is what.

Physical pain tells us we need to attend to our bodies, emotional pain tells us we need to attend to our emotionss, "existential/soul" (what's the point of my life, what's my moral code) pain tells us we need to attend to our souls.

(We do of course have the choice to ignore all pain regardless of the cause of it: painkiller for the body, drug of choice for the emotional and existential pain and some of us do choose this, but as a coping strategy, there are better ones in my view.)

When it comes to emotional pain it can be helpful in my view to dissect it: what are some of the underlying reasons for the pain: rejection, guilt, regrets, rumination over past failures and mistakes, feeling left out, feeling misunderstood?, to mention a few. Also, go and see a health professional who you think may help you to find a healthy way to deal with your pain.

When it comes to physical pain, don't ignore it and hope it will just go away, go and see a doctor.

When it comes to existential/soul pain, ask yourself the big questions: why do I feel lonely, what do I want to do with my life, what is my moral code, what motivates me, what do I expect out of life,, etc.

Also, go and see a health professional who you think may help you to find a healthy way to deal with your pain.

 All of us go through painful experiences along our journey through life, pain as I view it, is just one aspect of what it is to be alive. Pain can be managed, understood and at times even be a teacher teaching us humility, compassion and tolerance.

"Your pain is the breaking of the shell that encloses your understanding." (Kahlil Gibran)

(In case you are wondering with what authority I speak of these things: Pain, in all it "flavours" has been my companion as far back as I can remember, )

The above image is an illustration of how some of us expect life to fix our pain, top row, and how some of us lessen our pain by making our lives "bigger", bottom row.