Is all pain the same?

Written by: Khadeja

All throughout life we experience pain, both physical and emotional. Physical pain, though it can be excruciating, is easier to deal with in the long run. It may leave a scar, but scars fade along with the memory of the pain. This explains how women are able to give birth over and over again despite knowing that they will again have to deal with the agony of labor. The ability to forget is truly one of Allah’s many blessings that – ironically enough – you and I often forget about.

In contrast, emotional pain is much worse because the scars left behind may never fade. They stay with you and as a result can leave you completely changed–sometimes for the better. Sure, failing an exam or falling out with your best friend can hurt, but these are minor pains that make you stronger. The more you endure, the more resilient you become.

But sometimes you are destined to experience a type of loss that will forever raise the benchmark of what you classify as pain.

For me, it was the loss of my mother that has forever changed me as a person. And I tend to use that loss as a measuring stick: Is what I am going through now really as bad as that loss? Honestly, 99.9% of the time the answer is no. So I tell myself, “Well, you managed to persevere through worse things. And you made it. Why?”

The answer is this: Because I know that no matter how strong the pain, Allah is there for me, helping me through.