Pain!

"Uh, betray us, and I will fong you, until your insides are out, your outsides are in, your entrails will become your extrails I will w-rip... all the p... ung. Pain, lots of pain."

In case you missed it, that was a quote by Wat from A Knight's Tale. It isn't exactly relevant, I just like it.

Pain is kinda unpleasant, hence why it works so well as a threat. Luckily, people have discovered lots of fun drugs to help get rid of pain. I have a bag of Tylenol with Codene sitting a foot away from me right now that I got to help deal with the double ear infection I got, because throbbing pain in both sides of your head isn't exactly conducive to living and sleeping.

Here's the thing, though. I don't plan on using that Tylenol much. Not because I'm not in pain, but because the way I see it, pain is a part of life and learning to deal with it instead of just washing it away with a cocktail of drugs is important. Why is it important? Because when emotional pain rolls around, knowing how to cope with physical pain and soldier on can also apply to emotional pain.

Sure you can go to a therapist and get some antidepressants and melt your brain until it can't process emotions anymore, but you sacrifice a lot more than you gain by taking that route, at least in my humble opinion. I am REALLY not a fan of anti-depressants, as they seem to be a medical solution to a non-medical problem (that's right, I don't believe depression is a disease).

Anywho, the main effect of this worldview of mine is that when my ears get infected and my throat burns like fire, I don't reach for the Tylenol bottle so quickly. I grit my teeth, push down the pain, and learn how to keep going about my daily business. Painkillers have their place, but so does pain.