When you are in pain you want it to stop!

How long do you allow pain before you medicate it?

The way I see it, there are two kinds of pain.

One is about growth.

The other is about injury or degeneration.

My father taught me the lesson of positive pain.

When I was eleven, I started taking judo lessons.

My dad was there offering “moral support”.

“Just pull with your arms more!”

“Twist your hip and get under your opponent!”

Dad’s suggestions were not helpful during the confusion of a judo match.

I finally just got so frustrated that I blurted out, “If it’s so easy, you do it!”

It was pure frustration on my part, but my dad rose to my challenge and joined the judo club!

The first day of practice he became so exhausted after five minutes he had to stop and sit for the remainder of the hour.  He said later that his first thought was, “I’m too old for this!”

The next day seemed confirmation!

As he struggled to get out of bed he wondered about the wisdom of this decision.  He could just quit!  Nobody expected the old man to hang in there.

Dad said what kept him going Continue reading article →