The Trick, Is Not Minding That It Hurts



A messenger, having just brought in a message for Lawrence of Arabia, watches him extinguish a lighted match slowly with his fingers.  

Lawrence reads the message then gathers his kit to leave. Meanwhile, Potter tries to put out a match with his fingers. It hurts and he asks Lawrence what the trick is. Lawrence replies: 

"The trick, William Potter, is not minding that it hurts." 

Every life has pain.  Some greater than others.  Some years, months, days, greater than others.  I’ve learned this principle with a depth I can’t explain adequately.  What I know is, that when I put my attention on the pain, it hurts more.  When I do not, it hurts less, and sometimes not at all. 

This principle works no matter the depth of the pain or the consequence of the cause.  When I place my mind ON the pain, the pain rules.  When I do not MIND the pain, it has no power. 
That isn’t to say that all the troubles go away.  There are continuous nudges and stings and reminders to MIND the pain.  To put my attention and focus on it.  I do. . . briefly. . . but then I try to remember the trick. 


The trick, is not minding that it hurts.


The trick isn’t that the pain goes away, simply that I choose to put it in its place, instead of allowing it to put me in mine.  Try it. . . but don’t go around touching the flame just to see!


Comments

Post a Comment

Comments are always welcome, writers love to hear readers ideas too.

Popular posts from this blog

Fluid time; static time and flow.

Image
Time is a fluid thing.  It washes through our cupped palm like water.  No matter how we try to hold on to it, it still escapes us a drop at a time.  Yet. . . it also sticks like pulled taffy, lengthening when we most want it to snap and sticking greedily to precision when we wish it would last. I just read one of my favorite author, Mitch Albom's, "The TimeKeeper".  This very principle was keenly expressed through the vivid tale of Father Time himself.  I doubt I'll ever look at my own hourglass in the same way. I remember when I was a child, I dreampt that I could stop the world for just one night.  What could I do to make a difference?  I was fast asleep, but I remember the dream as if it was a Hollywood Academy Award winner with sets, scenery, costumes and special effects that weren't even in existence in the 60's.  (I'm dating myself aren't I?)  I remember the longing I felt when I realized that I had the power to do anything, change ...
Read more

Forgive Quickly

Image
Forgive Quickly I will when she does!   I’ll forgive, but I’ll never forget!   Fine, but not until they’ve paid! I often am not sure about why I’m angry exactly.   I have found however, that when I pause and remember this quote I heard years ago, the anger, the bitterness and the fear often melts into a sort of guilty knowledge that I’m only hurting myself more.   It went something like this: It seems to simple, and yet at times it is really difficult to just let go.   To know that my reliving, making excuses and wallowing isn’t   helping at all.   Not even a little.   IN the case of a relationship I want to keep valid or in tack, it is pouring salt into the open wounds.   Someone also said, you can be right, or you can be happy, sometimes you can’t be both.   I sorta like happy better.   So when I choose to quickly forgive, I don’t waste time.   Especially when I know I’ll event...
Read more

Reconsiderations and Ministrations

Image
As I said, life gets crazy.  But only when we allow it to.  What will I allow in my life?  I've often said that I think best when I'm on my feet putting out metaphorical fires.  Perhaps it i s the adrenalin, or just the deadline, other or self-appointed.  At any rate, if there is not a certain moment that 'finished' must be cleanly mentally stamped on a project (finished or not), I tend to move it to the "good" column rather than the "best" one.  One of the good things, is this blog.  I began it believing that I wanted to use my life-coaching tools to help others with pitfalls and problems that I'd already slipped into and found a life-like out of.  I was attempting professionalism, a step-back intimacy and the added burden of editing and reediting content and language.  This left me with a distaste (I'm not an editor) for evening beginning the next idea, because it would take much more time out of my priority box than I had allotted. ...
Read more