Why You Need to Get Hurt

Photo by Volkan Olmez on Unsplash

Pain is necessary in order to live.

This is obvious if you think about it: a broken leg would not heal if we felt no pain and continued to walk on it. A hand on a hot plate would melt in minutes if we felt nothing wrong.

Pain is probably the only reason you’re alive. Therefore, pain is necessary for life.

Emotional pain is necessary in order to grow.

But just like physical pain, emotional pain is only helpful if you listen to it. If you stop making it worse, if you seek treatment, if you change course.

Too many of us will reach for painkillers when a headache comes on but carry around emotional baggage for decades.

Emotions are not errors meant to be medicated or buried or binge-watched out of us; they are pain signals indicating a problem.

Pay attention.

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