The second step is believing your life could be better without it.

The third step is being honest about what’s causing it.

The fourth step is a willingness to commit to doing the opposite.

Seems simple enough, I know, but for most people the first recourse against pain is denial. (And drugs. Let’s not forget those. They allow us to keep doing what we’re doing more so than anything else). People get used to pain. It’s comfortable. An uncertainty that things will improve with change keeps people clinging to old habits.

People also don’t like to blame themselves. They don’t like to believe their thinking is wrong, especially when they were convinced everything they were doing was right. Few people think critically enough to challenge their actions. If they do, the result is often a lengthy period of inactivity, because their confidence has been found lacking.

If you are persistent enough to make it through the entire gauntlet, you must then figure out what opposite is.





If playing a contact sport has broken you down, the only true opposite is to avoid collisions for a while. This can look like rest or yoga or any number of things that don’t include banging your body around.

If seeking advice has left you confused and troubled, ask yourself what the answers might be.

If running makes your feet and knees hurt, stop pounding your joints into the ground. You can still get that activity high by swimming or upper body weight lifting. Walking, too, should never be underestimated.

If you’re sad and doing everything you can to push hurt feelings away, maybe you should just feel what it is you’re heart’s telling you to feel. You can’t get to the good without surviving the bad.

Whatever it is that’s causing you pain, relief can be found on the flip-side, should you dare hope it exists.







