Soreness

I'm generally a very stiff person - like, actually physically stiff - but there are definitely times when that stiffness goes from standard to debilitating. But the thing with stiffness is that there is both good and bad stiffness, though I think for a lot of people that's a pretty hard concept to grasp. And I mean, I can't really blame anyone for that, because if I wasn't familiar with it myself, I would think someone saying that was crazy. But there is, and it comes at the end of a day hard worked and well used.

Frequently, the people who talk about this kind of stuff are people who exercise regularly, and they can tell that they've pushed themselves when afterwards they're body begins to feel sore and stiff. Of course, in reality they probably should be stretching more, which is the real reason they feel stiff and sore, and that is very much so the wrong kind, as it will eventually lead to immobile muscles and frequent injury. However, there is certainly a certain amount of soreness that comes with it regardless, and that's the kind of feeling that reminds you throughout the day that you are progressing.

And that same kind of soreness can come if you spend your day working on a number of physical projects. Reorganizing and cleaning, moving heavy boxes from one place to another so that you can better use the space you have available to you. And of course, there is a fine line to toe - you don't want to injure yourself doing it, but you should be able to feel the fact that you did. After all, if the feeling is negligible, chances are so was the work you put in. The more you can feel what you have done, the more that must mean that you have accomplished.

It's interesting how far some people and sports take this concept. I was recently watching a video about an ultra runner, someone who runs a thousand or more miles in a year, primarily over dirt roads and mountains. The interesting thing about him, though, was his comment about pain and pleasure. "There aren't any ultra runners who don't know suffering," he said. "You can't be a part of this sport and have not experienced suffering. Every run is suffering. But the difference between us is that we push through that suffering. We don't let that suffering control us. Because we know on the other end of that pain is where the pleasure is waiting for us."

It's incredible to even think that someone could think this way. Stranger still that it's successful. But I think it's a mindset worth having, because it applies to everything in life. If you can push through the pain, on the other side you will find pleasure unlike any you had previously known. No pain, no gain, right?