Search This Blog

Tuesday, October 13, 2015

No Pain, some gain

We've all heard these sayings.

No pain, No gain 

And 

Pain is weakness leaving the body. 

What value do these sayings give us?
Is is necessary to always go through pain to achieve a certain goal? Is it to be expected that people trying to achieve the same goal need to go through a certain quantified amount of pain to get to a certain level of satisfaction? 

We see people in solid careers spouting on how much stress and pain they have had to go through to get where they are at now. They feel a sense of accomplishment with pulling through the bad times and get a sense of entitlement with their current position. They think that it is necessary for a person to go through the same amount of grueling pain. This certainly an untrue fallacy. It is appealing to antiquity and subscribing to a toxic sense of though that sees everyone as equals with out regard for inherent advantages and disadvantages. 

A comedian may make up a concept in their head that all comics must suck at first and go through constant rejection and discomfort. This is a cookie cutter ideology that assumes a fixed way of doing something. A person could start out at open mic and completely kill with his jokes. He could somehow appear on a night where an established comedian will help him along. Meanwhile, a couple other comedians are bombing and doing constant open mics with little to no reward. The less fortunate comedians may see the naturally funny guy as doing something deceptive or even unfair. They appeal to emotion and fit themselves in an elusive and illusory thought structure. 

There cannot be one path one size fits all solution for everyone. Some will see pain as a necessary growth mechanism to further success. While it is true that pain can lead to growth and strength, simply prescribing people to the fact that they must feel pain is extremely fallacious. 

One can go about by telling people about  their past experiences in order to teach other people what they learned, but they cannot enforce an ideology that says it must be a certain way. A person can take another person's experience and use it to make their similar path more efficient or smarter.

The truth of the matter is is that there will always be inherent and unseen advantages and disadvantages in each persons personal path. Some may start out at 2 and others will start out at zero. Some may have a concept in their head that a certain amount of time or work will get a certain and justified result. Some people will use their suffering to stroke their ego and make them feel more entitled to things than others. Understanding real world situations will help you and others recognize the amazing diversity and uncertainty that exists in the universe. 

No comments:

Post a Comment