What Pain and Fear Sometimes Teach Us

There are times when we feel sad or depress over something that we do not understand.

Sometimes we face disappointing circumstances: like failing in class, or losing a game. Understandably, this will make us feel down.

But there are those certain times when everything seems perfect, except us. School or career is okay, our relationship is okay, our family is great! But why are we not happy?

I have pondered on this for a while, and apparently I am not alone. Sometimes we start to think that the problem is with us. Suddenly we are not being ourselves anymore. Our friends start to notice. We start spacing out while hanging out with them. We start to get moody and irritated. Why do we keep spoiling the fun?

We withdraw from the pack. We want someone to talk to but we can't! How could they understand us? We don't even understand ourselves!

Or maybe we do.

Do you know the rabbi's story about the growing lobsters?

Lobsters continuously grow and so they have to shed their shells to make way for a new one. How do they know they need new shells? They feel extreme discomfort and pain.

Sometimes, the stress and discomfort is our own way of communicating with ourselves. It is those silent voices that tell us we need to change something in our life! Listen to it. Everything might be doing well but do you still feel empty? Then take time to ponder what is it that you really want. This may take a lot of time and meditation, but trust me, once you realize it, you will be filled with a huge sense of motivation again.

The signs that we need to change our shells may come in different forms. Sometimes it comes when we are facing an entirely different problem.

Life is short. Make the most out of it.

I realized this after spending time in the hospital.

If you happen to already know what will make you happy, by all means go for it. I have been writing since high school, but those topics aren't personally attached to me. I wanted to write about life. I've always wanted to write something like this but I always stop because of the fear that people will not like it. What if they think I'm trying to look like miss-know-it-all? But then I realized that I should not be writing to impress but to express. Fear will give us a thousand reasons not to do it. Our job is to find that one reason to go ahead.

I've known what my heart wanted all along but fear stopped me. My sign came while I lied in my hospital bed often screaming in pain a few months ago. I was 22 years old then. I looked back and realized that I have wasted so much of that 22 years because I was scared of doing what I really love. I lived on my comfort zone. If it wasn't for that very painful experience, I wouldn't have the courage to start living my life the way that I want to.

Are you feeling the signs now too? I hope you take a new shell soon. Don't let fear hold you back.

However be warned, one day the discomfort and pain may come back, but only because their is no limit with how much growth you can have.