There is no avoiding pain.

I can avoid extensive suffering.

Hi. This is somewhat of a prequel to yesterday’s note. Today’s sticky is:

There is
no avoiding
pain.

I can avoid
extensive
suffering.

This note seeks to make the difference between pain that we actually sense in our bodies and how we think about pain. I might get a cramp that forces me to sit for a while. I don’t need to obsess over the fact that I have a cramp, it hurts, why does this always happen at the worst times, and so on.

This is also not about sucking it up, buttercup. I don’t want to ignore or repress my emotions (which can be born of — or exacerbated by — thoughts) but I also don’t want to get stuck in a prolonged period of unhappiness or ineffectiveness. This note reminds me that I do have some control here. I can choose how I respond.

Do you ever think about this?

Love,
Kate