Good Pain or Bad Pain
What is your choice?

What doesn't kill you, makes you stronger.

                                                ~ Friedrich Nietzsche.

On reading the title of this article, I am sure many of you are thinking, “Pain is Pain. How can something be a good pain or bad Pain?” Well, I think there is a difference. Let me explain how.

A Good pain is one that works for our good and helps us grow, whereas the bad pain is what makes us suffer and becomes a stumbling block for our growth.  Good pain can come in the form of determination, discipline, endurance, sacrifice, whereas Bad pain can come in the form of illness, failure, deprivation, economic insecurity, or helplessness.

 

It is a basic human tendency to avoid pain and embrace pleasure. We like to indulge in various pleasures of life, whereas we are averse to do things, which feel painful. Of course, it is the little pleasures of life that make life enjoyable, and it is not wrong to enjoy them. However, we also need to know that all pleasure has its own limitations. Quite often, things that give us maximum pleasure have the potential to give us most pain.

 

For example, people get into habits such as drinking, smoking, excessive eating, womanizing, pornography, social media and so on. This at some point of time, can become so addictive, that it could make one lose focus on their goals, lack a sense of achievement in any area of their life and live a life without purpose- all of which can ruin one’s life. Excessive indulgence and later trying to withdraw from these habits can lead to mental depression or loneliness. In the emotional front, it can lead to troubled relationships or broken marriages too.

 

We have often heard this maxim, “No pain, No gain.”  So, what does that pain mean? It denotes the good pain, that we endure, in order to enjoy the fruits of our efforts. Good pain could be something like putting hours of dedicated effort and hard work at your workplace to achieve a desired goal; doing regular fitness activities for our body to feel healthy, living a disciplined life, thereby enjoying a good credibility; sacrificing on a few luxuries and indulgences, so that you have enough money for your future needs.

 

Mahatria, in one of his discourses titled “Dinacharya”, talks about the liberating power of self-discipline. We often tend to think, living a disciplined life is the opposite of enjoying a life full of freedom. But if you think deeper, you will realise that discipline is the true way to freedom. For example: One hour of exercise every day, gives you 23 hours of health. In other words, one hour of good pain (exercise) liberates a person from 23 hours of bad pain (illness).

We come across a lot of achievers in sports, but this achievement doesn’t come easily. It is the result of determination and commitment to put in many hours of practice, which makes them shine. The world-famous boxer, Mohammed Ali was once asked, “How long do you practice every day?’ and he replied, “As long as it hurts, that I can't do it anymore.” This is the sort of attitude that achievers have. They are willing to endure the pain, to achieve the goal they have set for themselves.

Avoiding the temptation, eating junk food is a pain, but it gives us the benefit of a healthy body. Avoiding the distractions of social media is pain, but it gives us the power to focus on our goals. Avoiding the urge of impulsive buying, when tempted by attractive deals or offers, feels like pain, but it helps us to save the money for that dream holiday. There are many such examples we can think of. It ultimately boils down to exercising self-discipline. Discipline is all about enduring these pains, to live a better life. A good life of our imagination.

Remember, “It is easy to die, but it is difficult to suffer.”  Endure the Good Pain, to live a life without the Bad Pain.

  D. Senthil Kannan,

  CEO, PALMS Training & Consulting (P) Ltd., Tuticorin.

  Author of "Transformational Thoughts" - A Journey of learning 

  Email: senthilkannand@gmail.com

Making Habits Stick

With the dawn of a New year, all of you might be probably making some New Year resolutions or some goals you wish to achieve in the current year. It is this sort of aspiration and motivation, which makes New Years special and a day to look forward to. One of the areas, we are always contemplating about bringing a positive change is our health. However, as we have seen time and again, these sort of resolutions, don’t seem to last for long.

 

Most resolutions, fail not because it is impractical or unachievable, but because we do not have the proper mindset or the will power.

 

Let’s first talk about our mindset. Habits are a result of consistent effort and for something to become consistent, it should be an enjoyable activity. Generally, when we do things out of joy, we tend to be more consistent.

 

For example, let’s take fitness activity. When we try to attach some goals, to our fitness activity  like weight loss, control diabetes, or regulate blood pressure, it feels quite stressful. It is because the results are often not immediate and it can feel like a burden, as we are trying to force something into our pre-existing schedule. Whereas, if we get into some fitness activity for the sheer pleasure of doing it, it is likely to be sustainable.

 

For instance, I go for walking every morning and it is something I look forward to. For me walking is an interesting activity, because I walk along with my friends, so I get to chit chat with them, and so walking feels so effortless. Even on the days, I have to walk alone, I equally enjoy connecting with nature, early in the morning, walking in the shades of the trees, enriched by the natural supply of fresh oxygen, admiring the freshly bloomed flowers, enjoying the fresh air, the soft sun light, the chirping of the birds, that my bodily senses find very enjoyable. So, when we redefine or transform our relationship with exercise, exercise doesn't feel like exercise but something to look forward to.

 

Another dimension of a healthy lifestyle is to eat the right food and stay away from the wrong food. This again is difficult if we try to be very serious about it. You don’t have to give up anything, like saying, I will not eat ice creams or pastries, anymore. This is going to be difficult in the long run. Many people who get into a fasting regimen, end up with feasting. Rather, you can try to bring in a slow yet consistent change, by embracing the concept of moderation. You can always say YES to one serving of your favorite dessert. The problem is only when, we don’t have a limit.

 

The second major problem is the absence of our will power. There is always an ongoing debate between our Environment and our Willpower. While there are a very few people, who can trust the power of their will power, it often fails. Will power, is often a weak muscle.

 

In one of the old Tamil, Packiaraj movie, “Idhu Namma Aalu” there is a nice dialogue, where he says, “It’s easy for a priest to be  a teetotaler and not get into drinking . But to be a teetotaler, for someone who is working in a wine shop is a real test of determination.” This rightly points out the impact of our environment.

 

Man is a creature of his environment. In olden days, people were more virtuous just because their environment did not permit them to indulge in vices, whereas today, everything is so freely available and accessible to people of all age groups, making it easy for them to fall into any vices.

 

We are set for a life which encourages obesity. There is food everywhere today. In earlier days food was not freely available. With technology we are lazier and live a redundant lifestyle. So, without changing our environment, it is difficult to change our life to become any better. It is easier to change the environment than develop our will power, to resist our temptations.

 

The best way not to eat junk food at home, is not to buy it. Rather, replace it with healthy options, such as fruits and nuts, which gives way to healthy snacking, without feeling deprived.

 

Try to make a few changes in your mindset and your environment and see how much better, you are able to progress this year.

 D. Senthil Kannan,

 CEO, PALMS Training & Consulting (P) Ltd., Tuticorin.

 Author of "Transformational Thoughts" - A Journey of learning 

 Email: senthilkannand@gmail.com