Is pain valuable?

Since I’m now in the present, any pain I’ve felt in the past no longer bothers me; I’ve gotten through it. So, no, I wouldn’t go back and remove past pain.

I wouldn’t give up the pain I’ve experienced for anything. I believe pain is one of the strongest tools to teach with.

Pain is the only way we know we’re alive!

Emotionally/Mentally: No, the experiences I’ve gone through have helped shape me into who I am today. I’m happy with who I am so…. no, I wouldn’t remove any painful events.

Physically: I kind of would like to have not fractured my wrist in high school from rugby. Now, when I pick up things that are too heavy sometimes it tweaks.

I love pain!

Emotional pain is one way we mature. What we are is shaped by our experiences. I happen to like who I am so I think I’d keep all my experiences, good and bad. Although, I’ve been pretty lucky, I must say.

Yes it’s valuable. It’s usually associated with a mistake, failure or misjudgment and we learn more from those than from successes.
If you get it right the first time, how much do you dwell on it to learn from it? Not very.
If you make a mistake (and cause yourself pain), you do dwell on it until you can make sense of it and learn from it.

No. I believe that pain actually does make you stronger.

Yes, and in a second. I’m addressing a chronic pain issue that is the result of informed consent having been withheld of the risks involved in a certain procedure that are permanent and irreversible. “Unfortunately, there is no known effective treatment for….”

There has been nothing gained or learned from this acutely painful experience, that has dragged on for almost three years now, except for the fact that I can tell you about various painkillers, watching loved ones suffer because they are powerless to help me, the loss of some friends and what used to be a good social life, having to stop my undergraduate study and finally, work. I have become unreliable and moody.

I have been through painful experiences in my life, some from poor choices and some from circumstances, had other physical pains, but this is the only one that I can say with a high degree of certainty that I wish I had never had.

I don’t enjoy it when I am going through it, but emotional pain, as long as one does not get stuck in it, I agree with others who have posted is part of life and growth. By experiencing it, our joy and contentment in good times are all the sweeter for having known that they are not automatic.

Physical pain is a a warning by the body. I am lucky only to have had it in fleeting periods.

@DeezerQueue Chronic pain is something else again and can be incredibly debilitating. I am very sorry that you have the situation you described. Our medical system is not really great at pain relief in these situations. A sort of puritanical hangover or something.

@marina
perhaps you meant “puritanical holdover?”

I don’t know why, but “puritanical hangover” made me laugh really hard. :)

Thanks for posting this question. What a great reminder to anyone going through something (emotionally) painful. No, I think I would not trade any of it.

@phoenyx In literal terms, you are absolutely correct, but I was trying to express the wrongness of it, and the pain that it causes. Glad I could amuse.

It’s a signal that something is wrong, so yes it is valuable.

@marina
Yeah, I shouldn’t correct people who are being more clever than me. :)

I have to agree with DeezerQueue . While short term pain can tell us something is wrong and prompt us to go for exams and treatment, I would gladly do without chronic pain. It affects every waking moment of both the person suffering and those around us. and of course this leads to emotional pain as well. I can look at past struggles in my life and see where I have gained strength from them, but physical pain has not benefitted me once in 25 years.

Here’s a quote I carry around with me in my notebook. I think it’s relevant here –
“You have comfort. You don’t have luxury. And don’t tell me that money plays a part. The luxury I advocate has nothing to do with money. It cannot be bought. It is the reeward of thse who have no fear of discomfort.” – Jean Cocteau.
For luxury, read a life of pleasure, for discomfort read pain. I mean to say that having things easy all the time might not be all it’s cracked up to be.