Pain is a fact of life. It's also something that keeps us from being who we truly should be.
That's because whenever we go through intense pain the human tendency is to try to put our minds somewhere else. When it comes to physical pain, this tendency allows humans to accomplish many things. Extreme athletes, for example, are able to put their bodies through immense amounts of punishment.
When it comes to mental pain, however, this tendency to mentally run away from pain can push us further from reality. It can also keep us from overcoming the challenges that we need to face in order to move forward in our lives.
The fact is that if we truly want to live our lives the way we should be, we can't run away from pain. We have to live with it.
Our tendency to avoid it drives us toward drug abuse, alcoholism, and other addictions while also strangling our mental growth.