Volatile Avidity

We think emotional pain comes from the outside and hurts us inside. We feel affected by the happening, like victims of circumstance. But emotions are the means by which our bodies feel our thoughts. And our thoughts are how our minds explain what we perceive. What we perceive is the result of what we let our attention explore. Our attention is like our breathing: automatic until intentional. If we attend to that which wants to explore the painful experience, we discover the imposter in us who feeds on chaos and despair. If we then attend to that which exposes the imposter for what it is, we discover our true self who knows the deep secret of our pain.

Pain is a notification. A signal communicating information to the authority. If it were not unpleasant, how would we as unreasoning beings learn to avoid things that cause it? An alarm that fails to alert fails to function. Understanding pain offers us the option to dismiss it. Acceptance of risk permits us to override the signal. Until the threshold of the accepted risk level, we endure it. Determination to sacrifice oneself provides proportional immunity to pain.