Hell

If you're going through hell, keep going. - Winston Churchill

Assignment: Today, whatever you're going through, keep going - and Smile!

I love this quote - mostly because it always seemed odd to me. Given most people's definitions of hell if you're in and you keep going you reach… more hell… so… yeah there's that. We can keep going… but do we ever get anywhere?

When in the middle of a painful or traumatizing experience, one that requires rehabilitation or readjustment, it can feel as though it will never end - as if all there is to look forward to is more pain. To a degree perhaps that is true. It is also true that perseverance in the face of adversity creates a new reality for us in which we are far more capable of dealing with trauma such that every day we work hard to push through we are that much more prepared to take on the next dose of hardship. In this way, there is a light at the end of the tunnel, I suppose.

Perhaps this harkens back to the thread from days ago about creating our own problems.
If we see hell as normal or heaven, then we have created paradise out of sheer pain. Sounds too easy…
The brain is a powerful place though, can we train ourselves? Can we train the brain to react to "hell" as we would heaven and essentially remove the stigma and fear from pain? I think this might be possible - fake it until you make it! Or make it until it's made, as it were. If we have the power to write our own story, create our own reality, then we can give whatever weight and power to things we deem fit.

With love -