Rub some dirt on it. That's what comes to my mind when I think of pain. Aka suck it up, get over it, and move on. Despite how hilarious She's The Man is and how many times it has made me laugh it leaves me wondering, if only it were that easy, right?
Pain permeates our lives. If allowed it can seep into every niche of our minds, hearts, bodies, and souls. The funny thing about pain is that we think it can't get any worse...and then somehow someway it proves us wrong. Life just has a way of doing that. Several months ago I wrote a snip bit called Rise:
http://authenticallyyou.blogspot.com/2013/10/power-of-phoenix.html. In it I talk about rising from the ashes of unexpected moments that leave you flatlined, like a phoenix. Yet, what comes before that? What starts you on the path to choose to rise?
According to research in neurobiology,"Pain motivates the individual to withdraw from damaging situations, to protect a damaged body part while it heals, and to avoid similar experiences in the future."
(Lynn B. Cutaneous nociceptors. In: Winlow W, Holden AV. The neurobiology of pain: Symposium of the Northern Neurobiology Group, held at Leeds on 18 April 1983. Manchester: Manchester University Press; 1984. ISBN 0-7190-0996-0. p. 106.) Basically past pain predicts future actions. When we are young and we accidentally burn our hand on the stove we make sure to take care when we are near it into adulthood etc. But not all pain is just physical...I would go so far as to say that we forget the actual sensation attached to physical pain but recall vividly emotional pain.
In physical pain such as a burn, a cut, a broken bone etc., we remember that it hurt and we definitely don't want to re-live. I mean I can't sit here and actually conjure up the pain I felt after both of my surgeries, or that snowmobile accident, or that skiing accident. I remember the fear absolutely, what happened, the sounds, but I can't feel the physical pain.
Pain elicited from our past, from our emotions, is a different thing entirely. That kind of pain permeates within us. We can feel it, we can re-live it if we so choose. Our heart rate might increase, our breathing may become tight, a knot forms in our stomach, our vision becomes blurred. We feel a hard gripping weight fall on us and if we let it, it can paralyze us. If left alone our pain can become a wound that aggravates us and is toxic to ourselves and others.
I know waves upon waves of people who walk around this world fully believing that they are pain-free. They over time have believed so adamantly that nothing in this life has phased them, altered them, or going so far as to say hurt them. However, a wise woman I know once said, "The sooner you realize your screwed up the better." When I first heard that it took me back. No, I can't be screwed up. Screwed up means there is something wrong with me and I have worked too hard to let there be anything wrong with me. Moral of the story is wisdom wins in this argument. You are flawed. You are imperfect. You are screwed up. The good news is...we all are. The sooner we accept it the sooner we can break free of the expectations to be perfect and to never admit that we are in pain.
Once we arrive at this freeing light bulb moment. The big questions that forms is how do we get rid of the pain so etched into the very fabric of our story, our identity? I think it's harder than taking a few Advil or Aleve like I do when my stress fracture is flaring up. I may not have all the answers or all the steps listed out in the perfect type-A follow along guide. I do know that it has to start by being brave. In order to confront the past and change our pain reactions for the future we must first choose to be brave.
Being brave in every facet, in ever way, perfectly adheres to what I believe to be true about Authentically You. Being brave, to me, is having the inner strength of character, the gumption to take a blind-folded first step into an unexpected future. Bravery is not found in the weak of heart, but rather a heart that is desperate for something greater and something more than itself. Being brave is choosing to take a first step towards healing by admitting you are in pain and secondly entrusting that pain into the only person capable of healing. The ultimate Healer.
No greater song captures this idea than Oceans. Some see it as a call to trust Him in all of life's future plans, but for me it is a call to trust the ultimate Healer, Jesus. To trust Him in all the times where it just feels like there is an ocean of pain separating me from Him. I cannot step upon the water and make it to Him without being brave. I cannot step upon the water and make it to Him if I don't trust that He is there.
Spirit, lead us where our trust in Your healing is without end.
Teach us how to walk across the water.
Free us up to trust You despite the rocky waves.
Spirit, lead us to surrender our authentic stories to you.
Healer, let your embrace cover our pain and bind our wounds.
-Authentically Screwed Up Me
