How is pain responsible for growth.

We all know Arnold Schwarzenegger. Let’s assume that in a parallel universe there is another Arnold similar to the real one. Once there was a man known as Arnold the fighter in universe 7. It was a magical universe and anything can happen here. He was a bodybuilder from the 2000s.

It was a Wednesday morning and he woke up, packed his gym bag, and headed towards his car in the garage to go to the gym. I know you would be thinking that Arnold can have a gym in his damn house. But it’s a parallel universe, so shut up. As he stepped into his Ferrari and pulled the gear, something strange happened. The car looked like it was running at a very high speed and the speed was increasing more and more, blurring everything outside the window. What was happening?

The car turned itself into a time machine, taking Arnold to the past in the year 712 BC.  So now, our Arnold was in ancient Japan where many spiritually powerful monks and physically strong kung-fu masters lived. When Arnold met those people, he tried to be friendly with them. But they were very hostile to him because he seemed like an alien to them. The Japanese people took him to their king named ‘Emperor Kendo’. 

Arnold tried to explain to them everything which happened but it was of no use as the king thought he was a spy of another world and is making stories to escape. So, Emperor Kendo ordered that there will be a fight between Arnold and his best kung-Fu fighter popularly known as ‘Sifu’. He was tall, with a muscular body, and had the best kung-Fu skills in the world. But Arnold was a man from the 2000s just like us. The only difference was that he was a bodybuilder.

When the day of the fight came, Arnold was so much terrified and he knew he can’t defeat Sifu. And yes, he did not. Our Arnold died in one punch of the Sifu.

WE ARE BECOMING WEAK.

What do I mean by this stupid story? What do I want to indicate by this story of Arnold? Do you think if this happened in real if anyone from our time like Arnold or any other person fought with a man of the 7th century, the person of our time would win? Absolutely not. Why? I’m going to answer this question and also tell you how pain is important and responsible for our growth. Just stick with me.

Around a million years ago, men and women were much stronger – physically, mentally, emotionally, and psychologically - than the men and women of this time. The reason for them being strong was simple. They lived in an uncomfortable environment, enduring pain and working themselves and not by machines. There were no big machines and cranes to build buildings at that time and the workers did everything themselves through their hard work. This resulted in the growth of their muscles because they were physically engaged. It was not the only factor in the growth of their muscles. But now most of the work is done by machines making it easier for us. The other factor was their diet. They ate the flesh of animals and fish, and natural vegetables which provided them with protein that is required to grow muscles. 

WHY ARE WE WEAK.

Those people – the people in the past - were really strong, we can’t deny this. We need to accept that they were strong and that we are really weak as compared to them. We are weak physically, emotionally, and mentally. You would have noticed that the average height of an average human being is getting shorter each year. I noticed that. But there are exceptions everywhere, you know. Do you know what is the reason behind us becoming weaker and weaker? It’s comfort.

As technology is becoming more advanced, which is a good sign of development and is really helpful for us, it is ruining us and making us weaker on the other hand. We have got mobile phones and we have got social media and we don’t have to go out to buy something and are getting everything at our doorstep. We really are lazy, and we don’t want pain. We deny it and run away from this. What I’m saying is, that people never want pain and uncomfortable situations, not even in the past. But they don’t have a choice which we have – to run away.

We too can build buildings with our hands by working hard just like them. But who will want to do that? I don’t. But those people in the past didn’t have a choice. There were no cranes and machines back that time. But we have choices. If we really feel any type of pain, we will try to get rid of it and not grow through it. When you don’t feel good, you just pick your phone up and start watching videos on social media which are shit. They make your brain numb and feel the short-term pleasure and help you run away from your pain and responsibilities.

PAIN CAN BREAK YOU AND MAKE YOU.

You probably would have heard of a saying that goes like, “Pain changes people”. But have you ever thought deeply about that? People just listen to or read this sentence and like it so much because it hits their hearts. It reminds them of any tough situation they have gone through. Let me tell you what this sentence actually means.

Suppose you have a friend. You shared everything with him because he was very close to you. You trust him the most in this world but one day, he just comes to you and hits you with an iron rod in your head to kill you for some reason. But your time was not over and you somehow survived the attack. You felt so much pain and lost your savings. Now tell me, will you ever trust anyone in this world the same way you did your friend?

You were a person who trusted somebody but now after this incident, you would never trust anyone in this world. This is because of all the pain you felt. The physical pain was really bad because you were hit in your head. You felt the psychological pain in which you said, “Why me? Why did I deserve this?” In the end, you felt the emotional pain of losing your so-called best friend. You would also hate yourself for trusting that asshole. Hence, you changed into a different person.

PAIN IS A PARTNER IN GROWTH.

Let me start with a simple example, our muscles grow because of the pain we feel. If you want to grow your muscles by working out, you need to work out and tire your muscles and let them be in pain. That's the basic principle of growth. One can develop emotional resilience only when that person goes through emotional pain.

The military uses this principle of growth through pain to prepare its soldiers for wars. They let them go through physical pain which helps them grow stronger physically. Physical pain is also important to grow mentally tough because it is connected to mental strength.

If you are not mentally strong, if you don't break your fear and get ready to go through the physical pain in the training, you can't bear the physical pain. So paradoxically, physical pain results in building confidence and mental toughness. That's why army people are first trained to bear physical pain and then trained further. 

MENTAL TOUGHNESS.

As I have already said, physical pain helps in developing mental toughness. But mental, emotional, or psychological pain also helps in developing emotional resilience. 

Studies have shown that the people who had successfully recovered from cancer have developed mentally tough. The feeling of recovering from cancer is itself a great achievement for them. They develop a sense of confidence in themselves, "If I can recover from a disease such as cancer, I can do anything". 

Psychology says if you have gone through a deep trauma at some point in your life, it will last its scars forever but it makes you stronger mentally. People who have gone through trauma and pain, tend to do better when faced with another trauma or a painful situation. 

You can become mentally and physically tough only when you experience pain and uncomfortable situations. Pain is the way forward. It is an important factor responsible for your growth. But it has become harder in this generation because now it is easier to avoid pain. People can easily live in their comfort zone which has become so much more comfortable.

But in the end, we cannot just sit around and complain about all of those things. We ourselves, individually are responsible for ourselves. We can choose what we do. A woman can choose to work toward her goal, or can choose to watch Netflix, "It's her choice".

Thank you for reading the article. I hope you got some value from it. If the article was helpful to you, share it with your friends and with those in need. 

If you want to learn how to build self-confidence, click here and read my ultimate guide to building self-confidence.

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Now you can get lost!