Winning over pain two views. Pain and suffering are different and warriors and fighters hold them differently.
Pain has an end. An example would be when the surgeon tells you that the procedure you are about to undergo has a four to six-week recovery period. You go to the calendar and mark off the days, you know you will get better, and the better is likely to happen over this time.
Suffering is open-ended it has no end other than the end of your life. A person rarely knows the exact moment that they die. Some exceptions would be execution or suicide.
While visiting a friend in the hospital the adjacent patient was being visited by her family. The conversation was anchored by the woman on the bed, she said, “You know me I’m a fighter.”
A fighter. She was trying to convey her spirit. That she would not go lightly, that she was strong and likely stronger than the broken bones and internal injuries she faced.
Winning Over Pain Two Views
Fighters only know how to fight. The world is a nail and fighters are a hammer. Fighters are limited in the palette of response that they have to choose. Limited response leaves little confusion. A limited response also leaves little room for creativity.
Warriors have many choices and understand the expense and benefit of fighting. That bull-headed fighting may well be too expensive to the state they represent. Or damage adjacent partners. In other words, Warriors have a larger palette. Warriors have a toolbox that allows the manipulation of the nail in ways the fighter may never see.
A Good Plan Works
How does a fighter deal with pain? Quite well actually, a narrow focus and a timeline is part of the world of the fighter. Another item is suffering. Suffering is long, protracted, and with no end in sight. Suffering saps fighters of their energy. It breaks fighter’s will, their ability to fight.
Warriors deal with pain much in the same fashion a fighter does. This process involves a timetable, doing what is necessary, and seeing the process to the end.
Suffering for a Warrior can be different. Warriors identify suffering and then shift their focus. The focus is acute, and diverse as well. The effects of the moment are viewed in a more global vision.
Constant and unrelenting pain changes everything. It colors the world, changes choices. It has been my experience and observation a fighter holds pain differently than a warrior.
Is the woman in her hospital bed fighting the injuries sustained from an auto accident, less because she declared herself a fighter? No! She was meeting profound trauma with the best skills she has at hand.
You have to respect her, her spirit and her commitment to herself and those who love her.
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KRIS WILDER
Kris Wilder is a martial artist based in Seattle Washington. He has authored many martial art books, including the classic, The Way of Kata. Making no apologies for his obsession of Football he can be found telling any who will listen about the nuances of the Canadian Football League.