Ready, Set, Pain Olympics.
Your friend, or acquaintance, claims to be in pain, and yet you desire to explain why your pain hurts worse. Are you after a gold medal? Well sorry about your luck because you’re not getting one.
You don’t know how much pain someone else is in. You don’t know their pain tolerance. You don’t know what they have been through. So why not be a friend and just listen to them? This doesn't mean that your pain hurts any less but what is there to gain by explaining that your pain is worse?
Life is not a competition. Your friend has a headache, but you have pain in your back, a headache, a toothache, and a case of b**ch syndrome (A severe and deadly disease, check Web MD.)
As humans we should build each other up. I have yet to meet someone who wasn't struggling, carrying a burden, worrying about something, or going through heartache. Pain is handled in many different ways and it's hard to perceive, so sadly we should assume the worst. Turn off your judgmental self and be compassionate because compassion is the new thing.
We all feel pain. Sometimes you can't see it on someone because they can hide it well. Some people wear their pain like a t-shirt. Some people cope with pain by talking about it, others not so much.
Your duty is to know when your friend is in pain, and they should feel comfortable enough to talk to you about it.
It's time to shut down the pain Olympics and bring rise to the good in everyone. Pain is temporary. Let your friend know they can run that race, jump those hurdles, and make that touchdown.
Let's get rid of the competition. Let's be compassionate instead of jealous and full of hate. If everyone worked together on building each other up- imagine the things we could accomplish.
