Good Pain or Bad Pain? It Is Your Choice.

What are mistakes, really? And why do they get such a bad rap? I have no idea where it started that people decided that mistakes were BAD. I remember when I was growing up, I was so afraid of making mistakes! I thought that making a mistake would lead to a punishment of some sort. And punishments equaled pain! After going through years of that, and then gaining the wisdom that comes from a lot of experience, along with valuable lessons from my mentors, I realize that mistakes are not bad, and pain can be good, if used as an opportunity to grow. Our parents didnʻt punish us because they were mean, they wanted us to learn. And parents instinctively knew (or knew from their own experience) that pain is the fastest way for kids to learn. It is Godʻs Will for us to continue to learn and grow throughout our lifetime too. I believe we are given free will as sort of an assessment tool. There are two ways of learning...by choice and by circumstance. We can choose to learn by expanding our comfort zones with the intention of growing (good pain), or, we can learn by going in a direction that is not the best for us and experiencing bad pain. Since Iʻve been working out a lot lately, I can relate to that. When I first started working out, a couple days later, I could barely walk! But I knew the pain was good in that it was temporary and I was building muscles so that I would be stronger. I would be able to do more things with ease (like carrying that 25 lb box of cat litter!) Before that, I might have been avoiding that working out pain, but I was getting those nagging aches and pains that come from not using your body and letting it get old, the kind that creep up and get worse and worse until one day you realize you canʻt walk. And eventually you would need to make a decision that would force you into some type of learning anyway! Regret (and rehab) can be a learning situation too! The people that are my biggest inspirations are the ones that push themselves to grow. They made a lot of mistakes because they are experiencing life to its fullest. But they learn from those mistakes. And they are grateful for them! And...now this is key...they are willing to share their experiences to inspire. They donʻt feel shame in their past and are willing to put their egos aside to make an impact on others. Devin has always been willing to share his trials and triumphs in order to help others. Itʻs one of the things he has taught me to do. We ALL have made mistakes and learned from our experience. Why not share your story? You never know who you might inspire.