"We learn that pain can be a motivating factor in recovery."

Basic Text p.29

"Pain - who needs it!" we think whenever we're in it. We see no good purpose for pain. It seems to be a pointless exercise in suffering. If someone happens to mention spiritual growth to us while we're in pain, we most likely snort in disgust and walk away, thinking we've never encountered a more insensitive person.But what if human beings didn't feel pain-either physical or emotional? Sound like an ideal world? Not really. If we weren't capable of feeling physical pain, we wouldn't know when to blink foreign particles out of our eyes; we wouldn't know when to stop exercising; we wouldn't even know when to roll over in our sleep. We would simply abuse ourselves for lack of a natural warning system.

########ROSIE........i must have had a high threshold for pain, because it took me **forever* to get into recovery.....i think my **numbing out* tools of fantasy/ disassociation and alcohol and drugs, kept my **inner demons* at bay enough that i was deluded into thinking **ok this is just life* there is no way out!!!! so endure!!!!! and yeah, well meaning people would preach to me about god and the bible....well i didn't want to hear it!!!!! i hated/distrusted god, based on the perspective i had of it at the time....i had **no use* for god/religeon!!!!!! been there---done that---didn't work!!!!!! my old perspectives on me/god/life hardly ever worked...so what else was new????? every now and then the pain would get **so bad* that even drunk/high i couldn't take it and thus the suicide attempts..........now, since recovery, i can see pain as a friend!!! never thought i would say that!!! but, really, it was my pain that drove me here.....it was the pain of my IBS that drove me **i had to give up the hate/resentment* for my abuser.....like who was it hurting???? him???? no!!!! however, it was killing me!!!! so yeah, my pain drove me to help myself.......

The same holds true for emotional pain. How would we have known that our lives had become unmanageable if we hadn't been in pain? Just like physical pain, emotional pain lets us know when to stop doing something that hurts.But pain is not only a motivating factor. Emotional pain provides a basis for comparison when we are joyful. We couldn't appreciate joy without knowing pain.Just for today: I will accept pain as a necessary part of life. I know that to whatever level I can feel pain, I can also feel joy.

#######ROSIE....oh yeah, pain is pain....to me it is a "hey!!! something is wrong----deal with it!!!"........my life was unmanageable and that was **pain talkin*.......when i hurt now???? i stop....breathe.....prayer/meditation......work the program......i LISTEN!!!!! something or someone is telling me something !!!!! it is time to set a boundary/ or remove myself from a situation/ or stop doing something !!!! but it is a message...and if i address it, i can either get rid of it/ or manage it......i think for me, my intensity is balanced!!!! if i can feel so much pain??? i know i can feel the equal in joy!!!!! life right now is being quiet for me!!!! i am in transition up the next level.....i have had to say goodbye to my **old hate/resentment*.....i had to say goodbye to an entire adoptive family in recent months...because there again!!! with them i was in more pain than joy!!! i was more unhappy than happy with them.......PAIN told me to **get rid of them and don't look back* and like an infected tooth that is throbbing with pain....i **extracted them* from my life.....it hurt for a while (a pulled/ rotten tooth will) but i healed and now i hardly notice that **gap* where they were!!!!! old habits...painful ones.........**listening to the pain signals* prompted me to **take care of me* and i did!!!! i feel better--- lighter but better!!!! thank you, rosie