Afraid of Pain

If we get scared of pain, would it be possible to move forward in life?

Confucius was a great philosopher and minister of his time. Once he was walking in a mountainous village in China. While passing from there, he saw an old farmer and his young son drawing water from the well with their own hands and irrigating the field. At that time, even small farmers used animals and mills to draw water.

The question arose in Confucius's mind, that this farmer and his son appear to be prosperous. They have such a big farm, why are they still working so hard?

Confucius went to the farmer and asked, "Brother, why do you two take so much trouble? Why don't you use animals and mills to draw water."

The old farmer said, "10 months ago, my son fell ill with tuberculosis. He was getting weaker by the day. We got him treatment at many places but to no avail. My son would stay lying on the bed alone, all day. Then one day I thought that I had sweated and worked hard on my farms my whole life, as a result of which I never fell ill. Despite being 65 years old, I can still do a lot of hard work.

I thought maybe if he toiled hard, some good might come of it for him as well. I started bringing my sick son to the field every day, and gradually my son also started helping me out. In the beginning, it was very painful. Sometimes he would feel so tired that he would get a fever. The villagers would also advise them not to bring him to the farm in such weakness. Still, both of us would come to the farm every day and do some work. Initially, there it was very painful but then gradually my son's health improved and he recovered completely."

Confucius kept listening to the simple-looking farmer with great surprise. The farmer said, "You probably do not believe me. There is a saying in our province that "If you are afraid of pain, you will not be able to grow." Sometimes the solutions are simple. The answer lies in patience and hard work, but due to the suffering, people ignore this truth and get distressed."

Listening to the old man, Confucius started thinking about the mountain eagle. The mountain eagle has a lifespan of 70 years, but by the age of 40 years, its feathers shed and become so light that it is not able to chase the prey quickly. The nails of its claws become so long that they collide with each other, which spoils the grip of the claw. Its beak also becomes so weak that it cannot eat the prey. This eagle has two options at that time. It can either accept death or the other option!

Folks, would you like to know what is the other option with the eagle?

The second option is fraught with pain. The eagle flies slowly to the top of the mountain. Where no other animal can hunt it. Then, after reaching a safe place, it first breaks its weak beak by hitting it on a stone. A new beak starts to appear within a few days. Then with this new beak, it pulls at its feathers too. After a few days, when the beak becomes strong, the eagle pulls out its nails from the claws with the beak. The feathers and nails also grow back within a few days. Within 3 months, the eagle's body becomes new, and it lives the next 30 years with dignity. But during these 3 months, the eagle lives in great pain. If the eagle does not stay strong enough to bear this much pain, it will die in its youth itself.

It is difficult and painful to grow, to move forward... So, if we accept the pain, we can take a new flight in life.

What does it mean to accept??

Let us understand this with the concept of growing pain. A pregnant mother suffers a lot every day, but she knows that her baby is growing. She accepts the pain and suffering. She is in pain but she is not sad. When we accept the pain taking it to be for our development, then that pain does not hurt but makes us stronger. So the next time we have trouble working extra hard when it seems difficult to get back up after falling, then let's not translate this pain into sorrow, but accept it and move forward.

How do we accept pain? By changing our words and the feelings associated with them.

"When difficult situations come in life, we come out stronger than before. Take the challenges with joy and see what beauty emerges."