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“Nobody likes pain. We go out of our way to avoid it.”

A thought by Mike Bechtle from his book, Dealing with the Elephant in the Room: Moving from Tough Conversations to Healthy Communication (p. 32). Baker Publishing Group. Kindle Edition. (Click on the book title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.)

Yes, I’m sure that none of us like pain.

Mike says, “When we feel it, we move away from it. When we touch a barbeque, we don’t say, ‘Ouch! That hurts. But I think I’ll keep my finger here for a while so I can really experience the pain.’ We pull our finger away and avoid touching it in the future. Hopefully, we learn from the pain. That’s a healthy response.

“When things hurt, it’s a signal that something is wrong. We might try to ignore the pain, hoping it will just go away on its own. We might try to take medication to numb the pain so we don’t feel it as strongly. But when pain happens, the best response is to figure out what’s causing it. Pain should be a trigger that makes us think, ‘Okay, there’s a problem. Let’s work on it.’”

He goes on, “Athletes understand pain and use it to their advantage. If they’re injured, the pain tells them it’s time to stop and treat the injury so it doesn’t get worse. But if they’re trying to get stronger and more competitive, they know there will be a different type of pain as they force their body out of its comfort zone. If they avoid that kind of pain, they never grow. They want to achieve breakthrough performance, so they willingly accept the pain of their workouts to move to the next level.

“World-class relationships don’t just happen; they take intentional effort. Growing our abilities to communicate effectively involves stretching beyond our comfortable conversations. Sometimes we’ll feel pain, but it’s the pain of growth. We embrace those tough conversations as necessary steps to stronger relationships.”

So, let’s do that.  Let's not run away from those tough conversations but use them as necessary steps in making your relationships stronger.  Will you strive to do that?  Will you?

Yes, yes! 
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