Several months ago while I was puttering around the house, my son was watching a baseball game on television between the Chicago Cubs and the Chicago White Sox. During the game, one of the Cubs’ players was hit by a 93 mph fastball. One of the announcers, a former player, was recalling being hit by several pitches in his own career, when he said, “Believe me, you don’t want that pain!” This got me wondering if there is a pain that anyone ever wants. While no one may ever actually wish for pain, it truly is an important gift we have been given. You may never have thought of pain as a gift before, but once you understand how valuable it is in helping you survive, heal and grow; you just might.In our office I hear many people talk about having a high pain tolerance. But when you think about it, pain wasn’t meant to be tolerated – it was meant to be noticed! Pain is the body’s way of forcing you to become more aware of yourself and your environment. It warns you that something is wrong and to use caution in your actions during the healing process to avoid further damage. For example, touching a hot stovetop with your hand causes you to reflexively pull your hand away, not press it further to the hot surface. There is great value in this! Pain can also cause us to reflect on how we may have contributed to our current situation ourselves, thereby allowing and enabling us to learn. There is value here as well. Without the lessons we learn from our experiences, we can never grow.Most people’s first reaction to pain is to use or take something to try and eliminate the pain. But killing the pain without asking why your body is warning you is not only foolish but also dangerous. For example, if the oil warning light comes on in your car, what do you do? You could take a piece of masking tape and put it over the light so that you are no longer aware of the warning your car’s internal mechanisms are sending you. In fact, you can go right on driving for quite awhile, totally oblivious that the problem causing the warning light to come on is still there. But, you also know that if you do that, down the road you will run into an even bigger problem that will take a lot more time, effort and money to fix; if it is still able to be fixed at all!When you take steps to make sure the reason for the warning is addressed, your car’s master control system stops warning you, and your ride becomes naturally easy and carefree again. However, it is important to learn and grow from experience to avoid the same warning again in the future.The No. 1 thing you can do to help yourself is to get adjusted by your chiropractor to keep a clear neurological connection between your brain and your body. This aids your innate intelligence in comprehending and responding properly to whatever is needed from moment to moment during the healing process. Then, as the body heals and returns to its natural state of ease, the pain (warning signal) will automatically resolve in the right amount, at the right time, while continuing to provide you with the proper degree of protection and the opportunity to learn, grow and unfold into all you were meant to be. Drinking extra water will aid in carrying toxins and cellular debris away from the area to speed healing. Lastly, listen to your body, and ask yourself how your own thoughts, words and actions may have contributed, and learn for the future.When you do all the right things, all you have to do is allow time and trust that your body will not fail you in the healing process. You can have faith that your body and its intelligence is doing its job in helping you move consistently toward total integration of body, mind and spirit, so that you can heal fully. Pain truly is a gift, if we can just listen and learn.Palmer Chiropracticwww.palmer-chiropractic.com719-494-1395
