Pain

Shortly after my latest cancer diagnosis, I decided it would be a good idea to watch "The Fault in Our Stars."  Spoiler Alert: this movie is about people who have terminal cancer.  As you can imagine, I was a blubbering pool of tears by the end of the movie.  I guess cancer misery loves company.  

However, one line from the movie stuck with me more than any I've heard in quite some time: 

“That's the thing about pain. It demands to be felt...” 
--John Green, The Fault In Our Stars

Pain DEMANDS to be felt......that line summed up my entire summer.  From pains related to gall bladder problems, then pains which I thought were telling me that I'd thrown my back out, pains from falling, to learning that the pain was actually from cancer in my bones---all of these pains were demanding to be felt, demanding I pay attention and discover this cancer before it returned with such a force that there was no fighting it.  Pain saved my life.  

My short experience with pain over this summer highlighted the importance of pain in life--it teaches us, awakens us, brings people together, humbles us, and protects us from deeper pain.  Can you imagine what could happen to our bodies if we never felt pain?  

The amazing thing about my current pain is that it is under control.  Between chemo working its magic, finding the right blend of medications and treatments, my body learning to adjust to the stress, and just being strengthened, I now have less pain.  With all the other effects of this disease, I'm grateful to have a break in that area.  

As you think about the pains in your life---physical, emotional, spiritual----remember that pain exists to teach, to humble, and to help us have empathy as we connect and learn from each other.  Each of us, at any moment, could be dealing with trials/troubles/PAIN that might be seen or unseen.  Remember to be kind and and aware of all kinds of pain.  We can give comfort by simply understanding that none of us is alone in our suffering.  


Whatever your struggles, no matter how terrible and hopeless you might feel, here are some quotes to uplift and strengthen----or to just make you smile.  

“Life is pain, Highness. Anyone who tells you differently is selling something.” ― William Goldman, The Princess Bride

“Pain insists upon being attended to. God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our consciences, but shouts in our pains. It is his megaphone to rouse a deaf world.” --C.S. Lewis

“No pain that we suffer, no trial that we experience is wasted. It ministers to our education, to the development of such qualities as patience, faith, fortitude, and humility. … It is through sorrow and suffering, toil and tribulation, that we gain the education that we come here to acquire.”
--Orson F. Whitney

“The unending paradox is that we do learn through pain.” --Madeleine L'Engle

“If pain doesn't lead to humility, you have wasted your suffering.”
― Katerina Stoykova Klemer

“After the rain, the sun will reappear. There is life. After the pain, the joy will still be here.” ― Walt Disney Company