It's a compass. Every time I deviate from perfect North, there is exquisite pain.
Consequently, I've found two dangers: comfort and avoidance.
In comfort, there is the tolerance of pain which comes with time. It obfuscates the path. When we were young and touched a hot stove, it's clearcut: don't. With age, the edges of the same subject both yield pain (e.g. - too much work AND too little). The familiar pain befriends us. We don't pull our hand away for fear of straining our shoulder. We cuddle up to bad habits despite continuous pain.
In avoidance, we become stale, sidestepping pain altogether, only to find we no longer learn and grow. That itself is painful. We traded the acute for the subtle.
Balance, therefore, is a wide path. Explore it. And on either side there will be pain. And that's ok. Sharp pain is better than stealthy pain. I can step back from sharpness. I may never even know to step back from stealthiness.
Consequently, I've found two dangers: comfort and avoidance.
In comfort, there is the tolerance of pain which comes with time. It obfuscates the path. When we were young and touched a hot stove, it's clearcut: don't. With age, the edges of the same subject both yield pain (e.g. - too much work AND too little). The familiar pain befriends us. We don't pull our hand away for fear of straining our shoulder. We cuddle up to bad habits despite continuous pain.
In avoidance, we become stale, sidestepping pain altogether, only to find we no longer learn and grow. That itself is painful. We traded the acute for the subtle.
Balance, therefore, is a wide path. Explore it. And on either side there will be pain. And that's ok. Sharp pain is better than stealthy pain. I can step back from sharpness. I may never even know to step back from stealthiness.