I’ve been contemplating pain lately.

There are basically two types of pain.  Physical and Emotional Pain.

Let’s start with physical pain……

First I was thinking about the pain when I train and race.  I read an article in Triathlon Mag about being able to tolerate pain when racing.  It made me realize that I don’t do that and that’s why I don’t “go for blood“.  I have not made myself really uncomfortable when racing and I wonder what the result would be if I did??? I probably wouldn’t miss 3rd place by 12 seconds…hummmmm…..

This thought brought me to another physical pain…as when there is something wrong and ignoring that pain.  I think of my Dad who had severe pain in his neck for one year and all that time it was cancer growing…and then I thought of my dear friend Jeffery who complained of chest pains the day before he had a heart attack that took his life……you get the picture…the kind of pain that we should pay attention to but don’t.  As opposed to the pain of training and racing…..hummmmmm

Pain is there for a reason.  It’s our bodies way of telling us something is not right….it’s just that we have to learn which pain to pay attention to and which to ignore…..I think I may pay too much attention to racing pain when I would be better served ignoring it……but I am grateful for the times I’ve payed attention to pain that was due to an illness or serious injury….hummmmmmm

Now emotional pain….man am I getting my share of that now.  Whatching my father go through treatment for cancer…not being able to talk, hear, eat….it is very hard and painful emotionally.  This man who was larger than life and could always fix everything, is now dependent on us to do everything for him.  It’s painful to watch him when he struggles- with his physical and emotional pain.  It’s painful  to watch those who love him stuggle with their emotional pain. 

It was scary for awhile…as in would he survive 8 weeks of chemo and radiation….today I can say that I am very hopeful he will survive!!!!

Which pain is easier I wonder?  Usually with physical pain there is a fix for that…kinda like putting a bandaide on a booboo….but emotional pain, how do you fix that????  The best I know to do for now is to remain hopeful and positive.  This helps the emotional pain for me…and for my dad when he is struggling.   We are given many gifts…and even though those gifts may downright SUCK in the moment….in hindsight we can see the gift that came from the pain……..

And who knows…if I can learn to endure the emotional pain maybe that can translate to accepting the physical pain later……….hummmmmmm