Part of Being Alive

I’ve learned to think of pain the way we think of energy.
Like energy, pain is infinite and finite all at once –
There is a definite amount in the universe,
Never fading
Only changing.
It never goes, merely spreads.
When someone in pain died,
Their pain does not go away:
It transfers to those around them in the form of grief.
Though it may hurt less with time, it still exists,
Never fading completely until they leave this mortal coil
And their pain becomes the pain of those around them.
Though I may hurt now, more than is conceivable,
My pain would not disappear if I threw in the towel and gave up on living –
It would become my family and friends’ pain,
And I could not bear that.
Like energy, pain can be useful.
It can be the fuel that spurs us on, drives us forward,
Making us create and become better in spite of ourselves.
Pain can help us, can remind us that we are fallible and human,
Keep us bound to others in times of need
Through love and support and shared experience.
And like energy, pain can be wasted.
Our pain does not end.
It is infinite, and part of being alive.