Ouch

Television shows sometimes leave impressions for years. One of those comedy television shows featured two guys who would banter back and forth while sharing things that were painful to them during the previous week. The first would say something like, “I took some barbed wire and ran it up one side of my nose, strung it through the other side of my nose and pulled it back and forth. I hate it when I do that.” Ouch! The other would respond, “Well, this week, I took a potato and held it up to my ear and hit it with a hammer. I hate it when I do that.” Ouch! The first guy would then tell of another of his feats during the past week. He'd say, “This week, I plugged in my toaster, stuck my hand inside, and dropped it into a sink full of water. I hate it when I do that.” Ouch! The bantering would continue for several minutes with each guy trying to tell the other of harmful things he had done to himself. Of course, these were all fictitious and were meant for grimaces and laughs, but nonetheless, they were things that made a viewer say, “Ouch!”

Pain, for most, is not pleasurable. Even though there are great benefits to pain such as letting a person know that something has gone wrong either physically or emotionally, there are not too many people who desire that pain comes into their lives. The response “Ouch” is very natural, and whenever pain occurs, most desire to eliminate the source of the pain. Because of pain there are now even pain management centers to help control the amount of pain. Hospital personnel ask “What is your pain level on a scale from one to ten?” And, of course, there are pain medications for just about everything under the sun these days. All of these are meant to alleviate and reduce something that is not pleasurable.

There is an additional benefit to “Ouch” times. Consider the pain that comes from making a mistake such as: a child touching a hot stove, cutting oneself with a knife that is turned the wrong way, choosing the wrong job or spouse, or being distracted while driving and having an accident, etc.? Sometimes the pain associated with these and other examples help a person choose better decisions in the future. Some of these times of “Ouch” leave scars that do not go away, and the reminders of that pain will help a person for the rest of their lives.

Until tomorrow...Why Say More?