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Pain is an unavoidable element of our life experience. But there is something that can make pain much harder to move through, and most of us do not realize we are doing it.
You make the pain you feel mean something.
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A breakup becomes “I am unlovable.” |
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A health issue becomes “My body has betrayed me.” |
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Emotional overwhelm becomes “I am broken.” |
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A painful pattern becomes “Nothing will ever change.” |
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And once that meaning is added, you are no longer just feeling the original pain. You are also feeling the pain of what you have decided the pain means. This is one of the reasons pain can become suffering.
Teal teaches that pain itself is not bad or wrong. Pain is an indication that you are alive. It calls your attention to something that needs presence. It points to something within you, or within your life, that needs to be seen, understood, integrated, or brought back into alignment.
But when you decide that pain means something is wrong with you, that you have failed, that you are unsafe, that you are alone, or that the future is hopeless, you add another layer of pain to the pain that is already there.
This does not mean forcing yourself to put a positive meaning on painful experiences. It does not mean pretending that what happened was good. It means becoming conscious of the meaning you are already adding, so you can stop letting that unconscious meaning deepen your suffering.
Instead of asking only, “How do I make this pain stop?” a more powerful question is: “What am I making this pain mean?”
And underneath that: “Is that meaning actually true?”
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How to understand and work with your pain is exactly what Teal will be exploring in her free live online Q&A about pain this weekend. During this event, you’ll have the opportunity to submit your questions about pain for the chance to have Teal answer them directly.
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