Pain Tolerance

I was asked today what the story was behind my name change , and it hit me that I could post something useful in relation to it.

For those not versed in the Star Wars Expanded Universe, Jacen was the son of Han and Leia. To make a long story really short, Jacen was captured and tortured. During this time he learned how to let his pain become his strength.

Think of a broken bone. Unendurable, certainly, for the novice. But as you face that pain, when that bone heals, it will be stronger at the break. You see, sometimes pain is in service of our destiny.

I was in a horrible car accident in 2005. I experienced more pain in a few months than I had in my entire life. But it did not destroy me or weaken me. I became unbreakable.

What you will not learn here is how to avoid pain or block it. Personally I find that to be a futile exercise. We experience pain for a reason, not just because the universe has a horrible sense of humor. So I've found it useful to EMBRACE pain. How? Well there's no "technique". It's more of a mind set.

For example, most people hate getting shots at the doctor's office, or getting into a fight and knowing you're going to get hit. I remember the first time I had an IV in my arm, I actually vomited. Now? It's meaningless. I do it once a month and it's effortless. So, if you were to go about one of the uncomfortable situations I mentioned, how would you approach it? Nervously? Fearfully? Perhaps even trying to distract yourself from the pain?

Instead, absorb the pain. Allow it to flow through you and fill you. In other words, EMBRACE it. Treat it like an old friend. Take strength from it. And then finally, when you have accomplished this, pain will travel through you "like light through empty space", and you will have become unbreakable.

At the very core is a simple concept: flow with what is. Sometimes you can't change your future, and so you have no other option but to face it.

I don't think embracing pain makes you unbreakable. Pain teaches us many lessons and using techniques to block out pain while useful, is not a way of life I would choose. You don't grow if you never experience pain and you never gain the skills that enable you to relate to others emotional or physical pain. Empathy, is sometimes learnt through your own pain.
Your future is in my opinion not set, you change it with every decision you make.

What makes you unbreakable in your view, sets you apart from others who are dealing with pain. In my opinion

Unbreakable as I'm understanding it through reading.

Elizabeth- This idea comes from a book named 'Traitor' from the star wars universe. You might understand the idea better if you read the book to better understand the hopeless-ness state of the character knowing everyone who he loves think him dead and hopeless in his in-ability to stop them inflicting pain upon him for no comprehensible reason by his hostages. It turns out they are trying to 'teach' him. And he 'learns' from the pain, after which he is put into a new arena.
I realize a similar reading can be found in the 'Wheel of Time' Series where a woman commits a crime (for that society, (They are several within the story)) and learns *not* to stop crying out in agony as she is hurt, but rather to face it without fear and can stop crying immediately after the punishment. Some people are broken by the process of pain, and start to rotate around their fear and avoidance of pain but others develop something like resistance and can move without the fear deciding their lives. Something reminds me of something a little like what you said (or Quoted),
"Fear is not real,
It is a product of thoughts you create.
Danger is very real,
but fear is a choice"

Going through the process of pain can often make people either Fearful or Fear-less..
It might be like as you embrace the pain, you stop fearing it and accept it therefore making you resolved and 'unbreakable'. Does that make more sense to you? Still- if you can, read the book for a better idea..

If you ignore a signal, then a logical action for a signal is to increase its intensity. So I agree conscious acceptance of the pain signal can reduce its tendency to fight for recognition by the conscious mind - after all it's purpose is to signal, get attention, and provide some information.

One thing pain seems to do is influence ones perception - it seems to occupy some 'bandwidth' of mental awareness when it occurs. In this way it is usually considered a distraction, but its by design obviously.

If a pain is understood and not going to cause harm or risk requiring your action, such as a doctor/dentist appointment, its interesting to just experience and accept it - to just go and 'enjoy' it. Obviously it's not about pleasure, but instead just releasing fear and using it as a opportunity to understand a pain experience without freaking out and trying to fight it.

But, as pain increases past a certain point though, it tends to make me feel more and more occupied by its presence, eventually at much higher levels basically transforming the conscious experience to one of focusing on more survival orientated mindsets. Heavy breathing being one example where amplifying basic survival mechanism's is like an effort to anchor the body and mind into some plateau of normality (when faced with an onslaught of unstoppable pain). At higher levels I'd think it quite probable that stress levels could cause shock and other system failures such as with the heart etc.

I'm only talking about physical pain, and not things such as anguish or fear which could be considered mental or emotional pain and probably a different kettle of fish.

I don't disagree on any particular point

"Fear is not real,
It is a product of thoughts you create.
Danger is very real,
but fear is a choice"

I think this was from After Earth. Just saw it last night and I'm pretty sure that was a line used toward the end of the movie.

Actually that line was used twice in the movie...early on when they were talking about "ghosting" then towards the end....but it is a true statement and it is false, in the sense that fear is a survival instinct...of course instinct can be over ridden...

My methods in dealing with pain vary....often rather than ignoring physical pain I focus intently on it until it becomes enjoyable once that happens I no longer feel it...another method I use is to increase the pain until the nerves become overloaded and shut down...medically speaking I have a higher than average pain thresh hold to begin with...documented in my military medical records...as well as a higher than average white blood cell count...

Yes pain is a great teacher and a terrible enemy but necessary in either case....

Sorry, but I must tell you this story about Pain Tolerance.

I was on a trip with a couple of guys from my business and this dude in the back downs like 3 2 liter bottles of soda. We get stuck in Seattle rush hour traffic and this dude really has to go. He is back there moaning and groaning like he is about to die because he has to pee so bad. This van pulls up next to us and in the dust on the side, it says "Dear God" a bunch of it is wiped off and at the bottom it says, "balls deep." By this time the guy in the back is sweating heavily, like he is going into labor. The driver and I started laughing so hard. We were crying because we were laughing. The guy in the back looks over and starts chuckling and moaning and laughing harder and clenching himself and moaning louder. Finally, after sitting there for 2 hours and driving about 500 feet, we get a turn off for a hotel.

The dude walks to the hotel like he is pregnant, feet spread apart, leaning back and walking slowly. He comes back out and gets in the van and says, "Man, that was harsh. I normally have a high pain tolerance unless I have to pee really bad or get a hang nail or when I get a head ache." We started laughing again and I said, "Man, that is the definition of a LOW pain tolerance."

Now we make the jokes like, "I have a high pain tolerance, unless I stub my toe with my shoes on and then I have to crutches." Or "I have a high pain tolerance, unless I sneeze too hard, then I get a head ache and my day is shot."

Just thought I'd share this with you.

MTFBWY.
~Randall Silvermane

LOL That's funny

I get what you're saying though. But I think we can have high tolerance for certain things and low for others. We can't say it's black or white across the board, know what I mean? In general I can take pain very well, but when it catches me off guard I might jump a little, but then take control of it if I concentrate. It's all mental.

This may work very well if you are training yourself to endure said pain. But no two painful experiences are the same, thus, we cannot be fully prepared. I have been shot before, and no matter how many times I have been cut open or stabbed, I could not fathom the wrathful pain of a piece of lead burying itself into me.
In a controlled, self-induced environment, I can see this work for certain. But life has ways of throwing you a curve-ball now and then. I will tell you what is worse than a bullet wound though; negative emotions. Those things crawl inside you, eat away at your intestines, then when they are done there they crawl inside your chest and consume your heart. Negative emotions are the number one worst pains I can think of honestly. And I know of no sane man that puts himself through that, thus this practice of absorbing pain, in my opinion, is fruitless.

All I could think of reading this was a world-known quote by Nietzsche,

"That which does not kill us makes us stronger."

It's something I try and live by, and it seems like in a sense, you do too.