Personal Essay: We Can Learn Without Pain

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The truth is that growth, personal development, and maturity are almost never without pain. The moments when we experience our greatest adversity can often become our season of greatest triumph. When the pain elevates, our development accelerates. When hardship increases, growth steps up. Aristotle said it like this: "We cannot learn without pain".

A few years ago, I went through the greatest period of darkness and pain in my life. I lost much of what I had worked so hard for. I made poor choices and as a result, ended up in a moment of pain and heartbreak that I honestly did not think would ever end. But it did end. And not only did it end, but I stand today stronger and more secure than I have ever been. My perspective has been shaped, my …show more content…

Some of us really believe this, and therefore we are surprised when they occur. Let me be clear. The problem is not that there are problems. The problem is expecting we will not have problems, and then thinking that having problems is a problem. And, being surprised when they occur. Pain helps us understand this.

3) Pain Forces Us To Make A Choice

When faced with pain, we are always faced with choices. The choice pain offers is not only the choice between pain and misery, but also between mediocrity and magnificence, average and amazing, apathetic living or passionate living. Pain causes us to recalibrate, look in the mirror, and ask: What 's most important to me? Pain forces us to make a choice. And choices are crucial to growth and maturity.

Jim Rohn described what I am sharing like this: "We must all suffer one of two things: the pain of discipline or the pain of regret or disappointment." When faced with pain, we either rise up and become all we can be, or we shrink back and live far less than our full potential. Pain often comes to help us to close the gap between our full potential and our current performance. But it 's all about our