When you have physical pain that takes a while to resolve, the best way to wait it out is to befriend it. A little twist in the morning, and, “Oh, hello! Yup, you’re still here. What will we get up to today?” Make the pain your companion. Take it with you, and simply accept its presence.
After a muscle injury, I try to slowly regain strength by exercising the relevant area a little more every day. The pain is there all through the rebuilding. Then, one morning, I wake up and find my friend is gone. That’s okay. And if not? If the pain overstays its welcome? Then you keep seeking help. But, most of the time, your “compainion” will bid you farewell on its own sooner or later.
Emotional pain is different, but that, too, can be a compainion. A bad breakup years ago which set you back in your personal development, for example. If you remember it today, sadness can still arise in the now. But the emotion is a momentary visitor. Ideally, you can face it, accept it, and let it go. Much like physical pain hurts less once you tolerate its presence, emotions tend to subside once we let them in.
Unlike a twisted ankle, however, old memories can trigger the same emotions repeatedly. After all, you’ll always have that memory. And each time, you’ll have to go through the same mindfulness exercise. So that the emotions, while a constant if occasional visitor throughout your life, don’t weigh you down.
There are a lot of ways to deal with pain. The one path that rarely works is running away. Appreciate your compainions—and trust they’ll play their part.
