Pain intensifies reward

 Pain intensifies reward

Discipline equals freedom, pain intensifies reward. These two phrases go hand in hand. The harder we work the better the reward, but also, the more we deal with pain, the better the time without pain. 

Being in pain sucks. We do all we can to avoid pain. We don’t go to the gym because it requires effort and pain. The pain we experience is what allows us to enjoy the time off. When we are not in pain, comfort becomes intensified. We have all worked long days on our feet. That feeling of sitting down after working all day is the intensified reward we feel from the hard work. The joy you feel looking in the mirror after you have consistently put work in at the gym is the feeling of intensified reward.

When the feeling of reward is intensified, life is at its best. Constant comfort corrodes the intensity of the feeling. When given time to sit after being on your feet all day, it is the best feeling ever. But how about sitting in a car all day? It is a comfortable feeling but that feeling soon becomes uncomfortable. The feeling of eating food after hours without food is amazing. But how about that feeling after getting your fourth plate of food from the buffet line? That feeling is terrible. 

Life must be lived in moderation to be lived to its fullest satisfaction. We have to go through the hard times so we can live through the good. When given something hard, why wouldn’t you do it? Because you’re lazy. We naturally choose less effort tasks than more effort tasks. If you convince your brain that pain will intensify your reward it will begin craving the hard tasks.

Convince yourself that pain is the key to euphoria. Feeling uncomfortable for a bit will make you comfortable for longer. Extended comfort only makes comfort uncomfortable. We all know the phrase work hard play hard, so start to live by it.

~Thank you for reading. My goal is to help teach others ways to better themselves while doing the same for myself. This is The Exploration.~