Pain
I fell yesterday. It wasn’t graceful. It was a limbs-flailing, body-hurling fall.
It was the kind of fall that hurts.
This is what happened.
We were standing at the corner of the swimming pool, trying to shoot a small basketball into a hoop along the side. I had shot a couple already, but no success yet. It was my turn again, and the shot was terrible. I knew it from the time the ball left my hands. I watched the ball land several feet short of the basket.
Embarrassed, I jogged forward to the edge of the water, wanting a redo.
This is the part that gets a little hazy. I must have slipped because all of a sudden I was in the air. I hit my backside so hard on the edge of the pool, and my body kept moving. I wanted to stop, but had no control at this point. I hit again on the next step and then bounced into the water.
OW.
I have some physical pain from my “flying burrito” entrance into the pool. My bum is significantly bruised, and my right hand hurts. A LOT.
Because of the pain, I’m using my left hand more. To eat, to get dressed, to do everything. As a right-handed person, this is difficult. Sometimes I forget, but the pain is a great reminder to treat my hand gingerly.
Pain of a physical nature, at least the acute kind I’m having, doesn’t last forever. I’ll get an X-ray of my hand, just to make sure it’s not broken. If it is, I’ll take whatever steps needed to fix it. The pain motivates me to get help, to slow down, to heal.
Emotional pain is just as real, but we often don’t address it the same way. Instead, we ignore it, push it away, or try to distract ourselves. Healing never happens this way. The pain just hangs around, sometimes for years.
Lingering emotional pain colors everything in your life, even if you push it down and keep it smoldering beneath the surface. It’s constant.
If you want to feel better, a good place to start is with emotional pain. Stop ignoring it, hoping it will go away. Hearts can be healed just as well as hands and bums, but it takes some work.
Living with constant emotional pain is a choice we make. So is healing from it. When given the option, I choose healing. Every time. Wouldn’t you?
If you’re ready, let’s talk.
