I never used to like pain. Or discomfort.
In fact, I’ve done a lot to avoid it at all costs.
When I was a kid the thing I hated more than anything was the pain of a stomach ache that I knew was going to result in throwing up.
I’d make deals with God pleading for a break.
My brother would be yelling at me from his bedroom “Dude shut up and just stick your finger down your throat!”
My thoughts and worries and fears of pain made it linger, and in the end, did nothing to stop the pain from coming.
I guess it makes sense that I was so opposed to infertility treatments at first.
Although they never caused me any pain, they definitely did some damage to my ego.
To this day I still don’t really get why nature chose me to be reproductively challenged.
Looking back on it though, I realize the reason it bothered me so much was because it resulted in more pain for Lisa.
I couldn’t help her avoid the pain. Of course, nothing could have stopped her from meeting it head on.
She knew what she wanted.
Nothing was going to stand in her way like having eggs sucked out of her ovaries, awful progesterone shots on every quadrant of her butt, vein fishing blood draws, or miscarriages.
She would not accept failure.
Ultimately, that never die attitude worked.
I joined her a year ago when she started on a new journey to become the fittest version of herself ever.
This time she’s fighting for a long future with Elliana. We got to the parenting game a little late in life, and both of us have genetic predispositions to some nasty stuff.
Yet we’re learning that what we put in our bodies, and how we condition our bodies will likely change the future for us.
But it takes some pain.
I’ve never worked out as hard as I do now.
At first, I absolutely hated every minute of it.
Then on top of the soreness, I had to endure the withdrawal of eating crap food as a reward for all my fitness efforts.
Now I honestly love the pain, and I don’t miss the crap food.
I don’t really like missing even one day of working out, because I don’t feel as good.
I’m kind of foggy on those days.
And this crossfit work out of the day (WOD) stuff makes it so damn easy to get in your daily dose of pain.
The past few months I’ve been working at the office some days more than twelve hours.
Ironically, I’ve found those hours much easier to handle if I work out every night.
Eight to eleven minutes is all it takes.
I just push through it.
When I look back on the times that I actually have felt pain in my life, I realize it really takes up very little actual time.
It’s all the wondering about the pain that takes up time.
I should have taken my brother’s ‘stick your finger down your throat advice.’
I prolonged it by agonizing, and worrying and trying to avoid it.
The best thing to do, is just push through it.
It’s over before you know it.