While it arguably isn’t something we seek out or enjoy, pain is often an inevitable component of life for the vast majority of us. Some of us, unfortunately, experience pain more intensely and more frequently than others, depending on the sorts of things we engage with at work or in our free time, but pain, as a concept, is a borderline universal thing.
I suppose there are individuals who do seek out pain, but this post doesn’t really apply to them, nor will we be dabbling in that sort of content here on my blog.
Without sounding like a sicko, I have always found the subjectivity of pain to be fascinating. By that, I mean I have always taken an interest in knowing that while pain is universal, the severity and effects of it impact people differently. A broken arm, for one person, might be excruciating, and while for another, it might be a little more than an irritating inconvenience.
We have different pain tolerances, so it makes sense that we feel pain in varying degrees. I do think a driving force behind pain tolerance, however, stems from a mental ability to acknowledge said pain, but not allow it to overcome our basic consciousness.
The mind’s power is beyond comprehension, and if we tell ourselves enough that a specific pain isn’t as bad as we initially perceived it, the brain will, eventually, succumb, and interpret the pain how we wish it to – to a lesser degree. I think this also correlates with the subjectivity of pain, because if we can convince ourselves to believe the pain has diminished, the mind will follow suit.
Pain, as the name suggests, is painful. I’m not trying to argue against that, because some things simply hurt like hell. But I do find it intriguing that some of us can tolerate more of it than others, and that, in essence, some of us are more resilient.
Photo by Towfiqu barbhuiya on Unsplash
ontheedgeofeverything 