Ripping off the Band-Aid

Everyone always talks about whether to rip the band-aid off slow or fast.

No one stops to think about the fact that ripping off a band-aid barely even hurts anyways--it's maybe a 2 on the pain scale of 1-10 and it lasts for about 3 seconds. (Well--depending on how slow or fast you go, I guess.)

Why do we let mild and short-lived amounts of pain affect the decisions we make so often?

We're so conditioned to be afraid of pain (because pain is usually a sign of injury or illness and, at the end of the day, we're all just creatures that want to survive) that much of the pains we come to fear are completely irrational. Sometimes something that is painful actually ends up benefiting us.

Because I can't go more than a day without talking about it--I just got laser eye surgery. Shocking, right?? I bet you had no idea, because it wasn't plastered all over my Facebook and Twitter and blog and I wasn't shouting it from the rooftops.

(I can see 20/20 now. In case you hadn't heard that part.)

Sorry. What was I saying?

Oh yeah--I got LASIK, and before the surgery lots of people asked me if I was afraid that it would hurt. And my response was that I honestly didn't care how much it hurt because I was so incredibly sick of all things glasses and contacts that any and all pain would be completely worth it.

I imagine that there are lots of scenarios where this should be the case--your fear of pain subsides when you have a complete understanding that the reason you're experiencing the pain is for something positive.

You may not have no fear at all--but the fear isn't enough to stop you from doing whatever it is that will cause the pain.

Tattoos, I think, are another example. In my opinion, if you are debating not getting a tattoo because it will hurt, don't get the tattoo. You don't want it badly enough. If you really wanted it, the pain of it wouldn't be enough of a factor for you to consider not going through with it.

Because I'm always trying to use my instincts in my favor, I try to let my fear of pain guide me to making decisions. If I'm terrified to do something because of the possible risks (most of which are usually pain or harm-related) then I tend to just decide to not do it. Maybe I could live a little more on the edge. I've been debating that lately. How bad could falling off the edge really hurt? I guess it depends on what's below the edge...and how far below...and what I'll gain by living right there on that edge. Right?


"Pain is temporary, pride is forever."
-A quote that at one point was printed on the back of every single person's t-shirt in every weight room all over America. And maybe even the world.