What would happen if you weren't able to feel physical or emotional pain? At all. That is the premise of a mystery I am reading. One of the characters lives with a condition in which she is unable to feel physical pain. Which makes her life narrow and limited. She has to be hyper-vigilant about injuring herself. She can't enjoy any activity in which she might be injured because she might seriously injure herself and not know. She probably won't know about infection or illness, because her body doesn't give her access to the information needed to recognize it. Doesn't sound so wonderful, does it?
Of course, we know about people who lack ability to feel emotional pain. The point of using drugs or alcohol is to deaden emotional pain. At least temporarily, you can hide out from the feelings that make your life difficult. Or at least you think you can. My mystery explores people who are dead to emotional pain. And are unsympathetic to the pain of other people. They are murderers. So, while 'not feeling' for awhile might sound kind of attractive, it isn't an indicator of someone living an adjusted life. Having emotion is part of life.
Except when one is totally depressed. I know this because there have been times I have felt dead emotionally. It really is like living in a black hole. With nothing but black and gray surrounding you. A big ball of nothing. Trust me, I would rather feel. Even if I am feeling pain. Here is why: Pain is a clue. It tells me that something is wrong. With my body or my life. It indicates that there is something I need to look at, like how I am living my life. Or what is going on in my body. I can use the pain to figure out the problem. And then I can choose to treat the condition causing the pain. I can reach out for help. In short, I can put in the effort to make it better. Which will ease my pain.
I've never really thought about pain as a clue. But it is. So, I guess that I should be grateful for the pain. There are times it might save my life. Can you relate to this? Do you you sometimes desire to deaden the pain? We all do. But maybe it is there for a reason. What do you think?
Of course, we know about people who lack ability to feel emotional pain. The point of using drugs or alcohol is to deaden emotional pain. At least temporarily, you can hide out from the feelings that make your life difficult. Or at least you think you can. My mystery explores people who are dead to emotional pain. And are unsympathetic to the pain of other people. They are murderers. So, while 'not feeling' for awhile might sound kind of attractive, it isn't an indicator of someone living an adjusted life. Having emotion is part of life.
Except when one is totally depressed. I know this because there have been times I have felt dead emotionally. It really is like living in a black hole. With nothing but black and gray surrounding you. A big ball of nothing. Trust me, I would rather feel. Even if I am feeling pain. Here is why: Pain is a clue. It tells me that something is wrong. With my body or my life. It indicates that there is something I need to look at, like how I am living my life. Or what is going on in my body. I can use the pain to figure out the problem. And then I can choose to treat the condition causing the pain. I can reach out for help. In short, I can put in the effort to make it better. Which will ease my pain.
I've never really thought about pain as a clue. But it is. So, I guess that I should be grateful for the pain. There are times it might save my life. Can you relate to this? Do you you sometimes desire to deaden the pain? We all do. But maybe it is there for a reason. What do you think?
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