Painful Lens

Before you are quick to assume that the title of this post implied a painful experience, know that it was meant to imply good pain. The "doing it til it hurts" kind of pain, which is the topic up for discussion today.

I only have two examples to bring up but I love hearing about people's passions so shoot me a comment or email if you have an experience you'd like to share!

Example #1: Playing guitar. Last night I just had the biggest urge to bring out my guitar and play for a while, so I did. I don't even remember how long I played, all I know is that by the end my fingers were on fire. They're still a little sore even today. But I LOVE this pain. It makes me so happy. It's kind of like my fingers telling me: you just worked hard and it paid off. I'm not spectacular at playing, but it is something that makes me happy. If I hadn't learned to look beyond the pain I probably wouldn't love it so much. But there is some weird relationship that occurs when you do something til it hurts. You become attached in some unexplainable way. You reach the point of pain and push through because you simply must. I don't know how else to explain it.

Example #2: Practicing Chinese. Since my Chinese class began 3 or 4 weeks ago I've committed myself to memorizing as many characters as I can. It's ambitious and it is hard. It requires lots and lots and lots of focused time spent studying the stroke order of each character and repeating the words over and over. When I finish practicing it is generally because I can't stand doing it any more. My hands cramp and I am mentally exhausted. But the next day I'm right back at it, hoping that today will be the day I'll get ___ down. (insert any character that I'm currently studying) It is tedious work but so rewarding. The more I practice the cleaner my characters become and the faster I get at writing them. It feels great! 

So basically, I just hope that pain is not discouraging when learning something new or practicing something old. I believe that is the determining factor of whether you truly love something, and we all need something to love.

-M