Two Kinds of Pain: Useless and Useful or What I Learned from Frank Underwood (Archived)
“There are two kinds of pain. The sort of pain that makes you strong, or useless pain. The sort of pain that's only suffering. I have no patience for useless things.” — Frank Underwood (House of Cards, Season 1)
Muscling Past the Pain to Get to the Other Side
Muscling through the pain has a price. The pain finds a way to express itself like the dinosaurs in Jurassic Park find a way to terrorize Jeff Goldblum.
Darkness
“You alright?” asks the cop.
I try again. It’s harder and harder to breath. My chest.
“I can’t breathe. My sternum. It’s bursting out of my chest.” I lean on his car.
“Whoa there, fella, I just got it washed.”
“Please. Help me.”
The cop laughs. “Looks like you’re dying.” He stretches his arms back with a yawn, then straightens his hat. “Time for me go.”
“No.” Another gasp.
What Are You Working On?
Tips from the Universal Household Assistant | Wounds,—a new cure for.—
When this point is reached you are perfectly safe—all that is necessary is to protect it from dirt. Do not stop short of bleeding and numbness and do not on any account close the opening with plaster.
Two Kinds of Pain: Useless and Useful or What I Learned from Frank Underwood
“There are two kinds of pain. The sort of pain that makes you strong, or useless pain. The sort of pain that's only suffering. I have no patience for useless things.” — Frank Underwood (House of Cards, Season 1)
Humans Normalize Everything: It's Called Adapting to the Pain
What is the consequence of this ever growing list of what constitutes pain and is there a value to learning to endure it?
Anxiety is the thing that’s ripped our country apart. It has divided us, caused us to fear and hate those who think and live differently than us, and even caused us to hate those who only slightly disagree with us. It has led to panic and overreaction. And I worry that American Anxiety is only going to exacerbate the social and political divide in this country to the point that there is no coming back.