Yesterday afternoon, I had a strong headache. I knew it was coming. After somehow ratcheting my way up to three, sometimes four coffees a day, I knew it was time for a break. Will it be a simple reset or cold turkey forever? I have no idea. I just knew I needed to pause.
Headaches are a common withdrawal symptom for coffee drinkers, and I also experienced them the last two times I stopped drinking coffee for a while. Therefore, the question was not whether I would get a headache—it was only a matter of when. This time, it arrived earlier than expected but expected nonetheless.
To my surprise, the pain was relatively easy to bear. I felt tired and rested for a few minutes, but after some downtime, I found it within me to sit outside and work for another hour. As it turns out, knowing why you’re in pain makes it endurable. In my case, I knew not just why I had the headache—caffeine withdrawal—I even knew what I was suffering the withdrawal for: I wanted to feel less frantic, reset my metabolism, and save some money in the process.
Thanks to all this info in my head, I could just wait out the headache. I didn’t know when it would subside, but I had good evidence it was temporary, and indeed, today I feel fine. But even if there are more headaches to come in the next few days, I’ll have a reason to endure those too.
Not all pain comes with a reason. If you can’t see one, you might be better off inventing one than suffering without meaning for too long. Thankfully, even without purpose, endurance is something we can practice. But if you find yourself in clearly defined agony, take it as the gift that it is: a well-specified trial that’ll reward you in due time.