Pain, Gain, and Your Thing

[Starting & Finishing - V]

“No Pain, no Gain”.

Who hasn’t heard that adage a million times? From coaches, bosses, parents, teachers.

Growth, advancement, winning: they require a bit of unease, often a few scraped knees, occasionally a bruised ego, and some fatigue here and there. Sure, growth hurts. Effort costs. Progress demands.

But is the pain necessary?

The adage so closely associates pain with progress that it's easy to confuse wounds, suffering, and even outright abuse with the necessary “pain” for growth. “No pain, no gain” becomes “All pain is necessary and/or permissible for gain”.

“No pain, no gain” . . . I’m not buying it outright.

How about “Any blame, no gain!”? So long as we’re looking for a target on which we can pin our reasons for not starting and finishing, we avoid looking in the mirror to understand how we’re tripping ourself up.

How about “No claim, no gain!”? We must see and name and articulate the goals toward which we strive.

Or, how about “All the same, no gain!”? Until we take a different angle, consider innovative alternatives, or chart a novel path forward, we’ll continue to end up on the same over-trodden paths from the past.

The point is that all pain is not created equal. Yes, it’s often a measurement of the necessary discomfort of progress. No, it’s not all permissible, especially when used as an instrument of subordination or abuse.

Know the difference.

Don’t allow someone else to tell you if the pain is intrinsic to the process of starting and finishing your thing. Often times it is. Dig down. Listen to yourself. Only you can know.