Pain can sometimes be so unbearable it can actually disable us. Pain or the threat of a painful situation, can drive us into despair and sometimes drive destructive personal behavior. It is also possible for pain to make us frightened about the future and can cause us to "not care" about ourselves or loved ones.
I believe many people respond to pain or the threat of pain by trying to run away from it. The thought process is, "I need to get away from pain as fast as I can". This is a very normal reaction when people are first faced with pain. Personally, I believe if you don't deal with pain quickly and completely, it doesn't go away and can lead to anxiety and/or depression in the future.
Having lived through many very painful times in my life, I have come to the conclusion to conquer pain you need to "face the pain head on". By "fully embracing pain", you actually move through it more quickly and discover peace on the "other side". I really believe if you "love" or "face the pain directly", you conquer it. This way, the pain can't destroy you or take over your life. If you don't deal with pain, it will never go away completely and will rise up someway, somehow, someday.
NOTE: We offer a short Bible Study "Facing Obstacles, Trials and Failure In Your Life Without God" to help in this area. (CLICK HERE TO BE TAKEN TO THAT STUDY)
Below are some poems about experiencing pain and how negative or hopeless it can make you feel. I don't think it makes any difference if the pain is "physical or mental", both can very negatively affect us and our loved ones.
(Note: These are my feelings about pain, but may not be yours or that of the professionals you may see for the pain you experience)
Pain Train Three
I have my ticket
Special reserved seat
Same seat
Same pain
Familiar journey
The train runs faster this time
Speeding past familiar stops
The train speeds into
darkness or light
I know not which
In reality, I don't care
At least I am moving someplace,
going somewhere
Not lying deathly still
with no hope of relief
Again, I embrace my
special Pain Train
I know it will deliver me on time
to an unknown destination
I know eventually there
will be lightwhen my stop
screeches into view
This is a comforting thought
Strange, but no less comforting
My comfort comes
from letting go
Embracing my final destination
It is good to be on the
Pain Train again
I know the destination will be
where I should be
Dubrovnik, Croatia. June 6, 2015
Pain: Negative or Positive?
Not feeling much pain today
Don’t know why
Am in pain,
I think.
Don’t feel anything!
No feelings of love
No feelings of hate
No feelings of hope
Feeling neither
pain nor peace
Peace or pain,
the same to me
I should care
I don’t care
I do care,
I think
Love or hate?
What’s the difference?
I don’t care
Does anyone care?
I don’t
I am neither in a negative
nor positive mood
Maybe, I would like to
be neutral for a while
Sounds like a
fine position to be
Neither in pain nor in peace
Neither loved nor hated
Neither alive nor dead
But, on second thought
Neutrality would be painful
Too painful just existing
Lord, please give me the
pain of a true heart
10/03/1999 Coal Creek Chapel
The Pain Train - B
Click clack, click clack
Constant pressure
Constant pain
Click clack, click clack
Out of mind
Out-of-body
Click clack, click clack
No rest
No relief
Click clack, click clack
Peace at night
Peace at death
01/24/98 Seattle at home
Pain Forgiven
Surrounded by pain
Protected though pain
Pain never retreating
Pain
A beauty unspoken
A beauty pain reveals,
of the inner self
Why pain?
Why live?
Why keep living?
Why?
Because pain is a
gateway to;
self reflection or
self destruction
Pain is a gateway
into a veiled world
Aworld unknown to
those without pain
Why Pain?
The reasons are
rarely revealed
Only God knows
To those of us
suffering in pain
We don’t care,
just leave us alone
When pain thrives
Hope flickers dimly
Desire wanes
Out of pain
Out of our mind
Pain
Pain
Pain
So What
07/04/1998 Late at night,
July 4Th
Never at Peace
I will never be at peace
My mind betrays the failure
to trust His guidance
I have constant unrelenting,
negative thoughts
Thoughts about
anything and
everything
Thoughts created
by a human mind,
thus thoughts very
inwardly focused
But I still know
I still know I will have
peace in my heart
and soul someday
Peace at the end
of my journey
God knows the answers
I don’t even know the
question to ask
My thoughts are blurred
by the light of
my own ignorance
03/05/04 Flight Newark to Seattle
Pain's
Message
There really is a Heaven
Pain is of the earth
of the world
of mortalsPain cannot escape
the world's grasp
Human gravity
too strongPain may be a gift
from God given
through lovePain gives us hope
for being peaceful
some dayRelieved of pain
in our earthly world02/28/1998 Sat.afternoon,
Kahler Glen cabin
The Tunnel
I am in a long tunnel
A tunnel going someplace,
I know not where
Tunnel of life?
Tunnel of darkness?
Tunnel of night?
Tunnel of death
Did I enter in darkness
and am traveling to light?
Or, did I enter in light and
am traveling into darkness?
Perhaps darkness shrouds
both my entry and exit
At least I know at this
moment, it is the tunnel of life
I came out of the womb
and into the light on earth
Darkness and light,
reflect the face
of my journey
I know the tunnel of life
can be long and dark
I have lived days,
of happiness
of darkness
of despair
of hope
and lived days,
of hope
of despair
of darkness
of happiness
Life is a tunnel filled
with peaks and valleys
Positives and negatives
of life will always
surround us
Why?
That is just the way it is
Life will never be
a smooth journey
We journey through the
light and the darkness
of our earthly existence
But how will our life end?
Fading away buried
in a black hole, never
to see light again?
Or do we live again,
to see light someday?
It depends on faith,
I think
Without faith in
love and light,
darkness will prevail
The tunnel of life can
lead us to light
Love will prevail
at the other end
All we haveto do,
is believe
11/10/1999 Dr's. office in Seattle
Pain's Song
I can see clearly now
The pain is gone
Hazy lights no more
Lazy days ahead
Joy of relief on the horizon
Dark clouds hovering close
03/22/1998 Sunday
Loneliness, I’ve got your number
Loneliness,
I know you well.
Empty feelings within my body,
I shrink at the clout
of your unrelenting attack,
Shudder at the power
of your controlling thoughts
Loneliness,
Satan wields you well.
His powerful delivery of despair,
the best device of destruction
of Man’s unguarded mind
Loneliness,
You are the great divider.
Separating us strategically,
dealing in desperation,
Satan’s insidious sigh of abandonment
in our ear
Loneliness,
You tell a good story.
A logical line: we are alone
when friends and relatives disappear,
a compelling belief when spouses disengage.
Loneliness,
Your narrative misleads.
Though human bonds may bend and break
God’s love is a fortress
indivisible, indestructible, eternal
Loneliness,
God lights the way through your darkness,
His Grace in our hearts,
Satan sulks in silence
as inner peace proclaims God’s promise:
There is no lonely in Heaven
07/25/2000 Dollywood,
in a small Chapel