No Pain No Gain?

The name of my brick and mortar business is called Kenosis Counseling & Coaching Center, Inc.  Kenosis is ancient Greek for being emptied out, which is different than being empty.  In order to be emptied out we need to enter into our pain, enter into our being stuck, and enter into the darkness that has become the Gremlins that block our happiness and success in life.  What I say is sounds foolish, even counter-culture.  You have a pain.  What do you do?  You pop a Tylenol, right?  That’s immediate gratification.  What if your pain is telling you something very important?  I had a friend once who was on a high level of pain medication for arthritis issues.  One day he collapsed.  His spleen had burst.  He nearly died in those next two days.  The pain medication blocked his brain from receiving the signals his nervous system was sending.  We reflected on it later.  It was an odd yet powerful learning experience for him.  Avoiding emotional and spiritual pain is like holding a finger in the leaky dam.  Pain is a powerful teacher and motivator for transformation.  I don’t support masochistic approaches to pain.  I only respect it for the value it can bring in your life.  Pain tells us that something is not right and needs our attention.  Let me end this blog entry with a few inspiring quotes on pain:

“Suffering is the badge of the human race.”
          ~~ Mahatma Gandhi


“And I wondered, I wondered and wondered why.  Why did God make a world where everybody’s heart is in pain?... you know what I figured out?  The answer.  I mean, I think I did.  You know why it’s like that?  So we need each other… It’s so we stick with each other, do for each other, and build up the world.  Because misery does love company, and another soul’s comfort is the only balm for the wounds.”
          ~~ Scott Turow from Personal Injuries


“Pain helps us to understand other people in pain… A healthy experience of letting pain be pain is always a schooling in compassion.  For when a person has suffered deeply even once and ha owned that suffering, that person can never forget and never fail to recognize the pain of others.”
          ~~Matthew Fox from Original Blessing


A good life coach has courage, knows the experience of entering into pain and can lead the way.  When you will experience Kenosis?

Dave Turo-Shields
Certified Empowerment Coach