Listening to our pain & trusting ourselves

Pain occurs on many levels, in many ways, and for many reasons, and it is all subjective. The inherent subjectivity of pain does not mean pain isn't real, and that it doesn’t diminish our capacity to fully live our lives. Comparing our pain to another’s is futile. We can never know what someone else's pain is like for them. On the flip side, no one can ever know what our experience of pain is either. 

We have to trust ourselves and each other to know better than anyone about our own unique experiences.
 
Pain isn’t without purpose. It is designed to get our attention and change our behavior. 

​For example, physical pain tells us to stop walking on an injured foot, or that we’re dehydrated and need more water (or that it is time for a baby to be born!) Emotional pain can tell us it is time to leave a job or make a change in a relationship. How do we learn from our pain in a way that allows us to grow and thrive? ​​

First we must allow the pain to exist. By acknowledging that pain is present, we can work with it. If we can overcome our conditioning and sit still with our pain, breathing into each moment, allowing it to be what it is, we can tap into that deep reservoir of strength within us. 

When we fight against the pain, we create noise that blocks the wisdom signaling us about what needs to change. Only when we can get quiet and still can we begin to hear that wise voice within us, the one that whispers, or sometimes shouts, exactly what needs to be different. It is imperative that we not only listen to those messages, but also act on them, finding the resources to make the needed changes. 

Imagine how different the world would look if women listened to that first inkling of, “Hey, wait a minute, something’s not right here” rather than overriding that inner knowing? Maybe there would be less pain in the world.
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Trust yourself. Only you know what your experience is. Ask for help from those you can trust to support you in your experience. And trust others to know what is best for them as well, because all our experiences of life are unique.