Hey Moguls, Preston Ely here…
“Pain is weakness leaving the body.”
~ United States Marines
There are 3 types of people in this world.
Only 3, haha...
1. Those who run from pain
2. Those who run TO pain
3. Ms. South Carolina
Now at first glance, it may seem a little sadistic to run to pain. Or to be Ms. South Carolina. (Look, forget her. I don't even know why I mentioned that.)
But it’s really not. After all…
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Jesus ran to the cross.
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The Marines run to boot camp. And to war.
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Pro fighters run to the torture chamber (a.k.a. “The gym”)
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Frat boys run to initiation. (How they ended up in the same list as Jesus… I have no idea.)
You get my point. About the first 3, anyways.
These people embrace pain because for them there is meaning behind it.
Smile, a little heart-wrenching, mind-numbing, never-ending torture never hurt anybody.
Let me tell you, the surest recipe for misery in this unbelievably challenging world is to go through life unaware of the value your pain brings with it.
Imagine a parent raising a child his whole life without ever giving him a good reason for all the unpleasant tasks and responsibilities laid upon him.
Unbearable.
Children need to know why they are going to school; why they can’t stay out until 1 am; why they can’t eat rat poison, etc.
Well, the same way kids need to know why they are suffering, you need to know why you are suffering. Or else you will run from it.
Kids need to know why they have to do homework. You need to know why your car wouldn’t start this morning the same day your spouse lost their job.
Kids need to know why they have to clean their room. I need to know why no matter what I do, no matter how much money I spend, my back pain will not go away.
Kids need to know why they are being reprimanded. We need to know why there is ALWAYS something challenging and painful going on in our lives at all times no matter what. (To the degree you think you are exempt from this, you are simply delusional. You’re not living in the real world. You’re scared of it.)
Kids need to know why their knee hurts after they fell down and scraped it (why not tell them the truth – that this is nature’s loving way of warning us that we need to be careful?).
I need to know why after the unbelievable headache of losing a computer last week and buying a brand-new one, the new one immediately got a virus and was completely destroyed taking a week’s worth of work with it.
You need to know why you are in physical pain.
You need to know why you are struggling financially.
You need to know why an important relationship is suffering badly.
You need to know why that nagging sense of discontentment that has been with you since your early 20s will not go away.
And this is the reason…
You are here in this world to grow stronger. Not to have fun.
And pain makes you stronger.*
I don’t know any simpler way to put it.
Now that’s not to say that we don’t have fun. I mean, look at my life. I have fun. But fun doesn’t define me. I am not lost without it.
The reason my tendency is to smile in the face of pain – and many times to actually seek it out – is because I know why I am here. I have a mission, and I cannot complete that mission in a weakened state. I want to get stronger. I NEED to get stronger. And I know darn well that the only way that is going to happen is by going through stressful situations.
“We cannot learn without pain.”
~ Aristotle
Now listen closely…
You are going to have trials and tribulations NO MATTER WHAT.
But to the degree that you can develop my perspective about them – the warrior’s perspective – to that degree, these trials will turn you into a strong person. Slowly, these painful circumstances will have less and less of an effect on you.
The opposite is also true.
To the degree that you complain about these trials, have self-pity about these trials, seek personal comfort through sinful means to ease the pain of these trials… to this degree you will suffer the most awful misery in life.
Just remember, your pain has meaning. It is making you better – if you let it.
Make it happen.
(*There is also a more spiritual answer, but many of you may not want to hear it.)
I Hear Ya
Do you let your pain destroy you or make you stronger? Talk to me in the comments section below.
Keep your head up. Keep going. You have what it takes to make it through life. You read this. That means you want it. Most people don’t.
Realize that this world is war. It’s not a flippin’ circus. This ain’t Cirque du Soleil. And that’s not just the way I personally see it. That’s the God’s honest truth.
Put your battle gear on and start fighting. If you’re not even in the battle, how can you win?
Preston Ely
is a real estate investor, serial entrepreneur, life coach, musician and philanthropist. CEO of Real Freedom, Inc, one of the most influential internet-based information publishers in the world, owns the largest Anytime Fitness Gym in the United States, is recording a music album with Atlantic Records, sits on the board of Advocates Of Love Orphanage, and has a non-profit charity assisting the poor and oppressed in Cuba with both their physical and spiritual needs.
With over 200,000 subscribers to his email newsletter, he is rapidly fulfilling his mission on earth, which is to glorify God by setting people physically, mentally, financially, and spiritually free through his music and his message of FREEDOM. Preston is 37 years old, lives in Tampa, FL with his wife Ashley, where he spends most of his time reading, writing, and practicing mixed martial arts.