What is the point of pain? It hurts.
Have you ever tried to play poker with no stakes? If there is neither money or articles of clothing attached to your poker chips, poker becomes a ridiculous game. Everyone stays in every hand just in case and the game devolves into a route of pure chance. The skill and excitement is gone.
The same would happen in a life without the possibility of pain. Were it not for the ego to become diminished in the face of rejection and the body to feel pain after injury or illness, we would not have fear. Without fear we would not have courage, toughness, willpower, struggle, and therefore we would not have triumph, the joy of accomplishment, and the thrill of the battle.
Pain is here for a reason. But suffering is not. Suffering is the obsession and rumination with pain. It is the question of when will it end, and when will it come back again? As Eckhart Tolle and many buddhist thinkers remind us, there is no suffering in the present moment, there is only pain.
And pain is something to be grateful for. It is our stake in the game of life. We always have an ante in the game when pain is on the table. Does this mean that pain shouldn't be avoided? Of course it should! That is the point of the game; avoid pain and find pleasure. But when pain inevitably finds us, we must be vigilant to prevent suffering. There is no reason for anxiety (the fear of future pain), because pain is rarely ever as bad as we imagine it will be. The anticipation of the needle prick is far worse than the event itself. And there is no need for suffering when pain is upon us. There is wisdom in the colloquialism, "This too shall pass." Many of our greatest bouts of suffering are just dim memories in a life of brightly lived days.
Change your attitude surrounding pain, and immediately you reduce anxiety and fear. With less anxiety and fear, you have more opportunity for freedom and pleasure. I'm no master at this game of life, but I know that is how I want to play.
