#100 – What Pain Teaches Us

Opening: Pain is the teacher that never lies.

Closing line: Don’t curse your pain

thank it for showing you where to heal.

What Pain Teaches Us

“Whenever you suffer pain… remember that it has limits. It cannot destroy your intelligence or your ability to act with wisdom.” 

— Marcus Aurelius

Pain has always been presented to us as something dangerous, something we must escape, something a doctor must “fix.” 

Where I grew up, even fever was treated like an emergency. 

Pain = bad. 

Pain = threat. 

Pain = something you run to an expert to cure.

But no one taught us the other side of pain.

Pain is not just a wound.

Pain is a message.

Pain is growth in disguise.

Pain is a lesson that never lies.

The First Pain I Ever Knew

I was maybe five years old when life delivered my first real lesson.

My uncle kicked us out of our home. 

Suddenly we were homeless — my mother, my siblings, and me.

I remember my mother crying. 

I remember the helplessness. 

I remember the fear.

As a child, I didn’t know what to do. 

So I started fighting in my mind. 

Fighting everything and everyone who ever tried to hurt us. 

That’s how my mind learned to survive. 

That’s when I first understood loneliness.

But after the pain came something unexpected: peace.

No more fighting. 

No more family conflict. 

Just a strange calm.

Even at five years old, pain whispered its first truth:

“After pain comes clarity.”

Pain Made Me Brave (Even When It Hurt)

As I grew older, I tested life on purpose.

I climbed high trees. 

Mountains. 

Stones. 

Anything dangerous.

I fell. I broke. I bled. 

But every fall made me stronger internally — not externally.

I fought bigger boys on the street. 

They beat me like a punching bag. 

I hid the bruises from my parents. 

Not because I was strong, but because I believed one day I would beat them.

But life taught me something deeper: Every time I chased revenge, 

I hurt myself more than they hurt me.

So I stopped chasing them. 

I became quiet. 

Alone. Focused.

Pain taught me how to win inside my mind — and that victory is far greater than any physical fight.

Why Do We Feel Better After Pain?

Most people think we feel better because pain “stops.” 

But that’s not true.

We feel better because pain ends with understanding. 

We learn something. 

We grow. 

We transform.

Doctors tell you: “Take this and rest. Be patient.”

But patience is not medicine. Patience IS the cure.

I am not against doctors. But healing — real healing — happens when the mind says:

“This pain has an end, and I will reach it.”

No pain is permanent. 

Not physical. 

Not emotional. 

Not mental.

Pain is a temporary visitor that leaves gifts behind when it walks away.

And the greatest gift is this:

After pain, you become someone you were not before.

Who Gives Us the Most Pain?

Not strangers. 

Not enemies. 

Not accidents.

The people we love the most.

If you are empathetic, you feel pain even when watching the news — because you can feel the suffering of others.

But emotional pain? That comes from love.

I don’t remember the physical pain I suffered as a child. 

But I remember the mental wounds:

• leaving my family at 15

• building a life alone

• and the deepest wound of all: 

  being separated from my children

  
  

That separation broke me in a way that no physical injury ever could.

It dragged me into the darkest parts of myself. 

It killed the old me. 

And like all deep pain, it forced me to be reborn.

Today, I have a strong, beautiful relationship with my children. 

I can visit my mother with a peaceful heart. 

I survived the pain — and I’m grateful for what it gave me.

Pain taught me the truth: 

Love will always hurt you the most — 

but love will always heal you the strongest.

Don’t Fear Pain — Learn From It

I don’t chase pain. 

But I’m not afraid of it anymore.

Because now I know:

• Pain ends.

• Pain teaches.

• Pain transforms.

• Pain makes space for the person you are becoming.

  
  

If you love people, you will feel pain. 

But this pain is not your enemy — it is your evolution.

Don’t curse your pain.

Thank it for showing you where to heal.

Key Takeaways

1. Pain is a teacher — not a punishment.

2. Pain from loved ones cuts the deepest, but heals the strongest.

3. Mental pain lasts longer than physical pain — and teaches more.

4. After every pain comes clarity, growth, and a new version of you.

5. Don’t run from pain; understand it. That’s where the healing begins.

   
   

Tariq Khan