Having a High Tolerance for Pain

At some early point in my time on earth, I recall it being said that I have a high tolerance for pain.  At first, I thought it an odd comment to describe what, for me, was a simple matter of not actually FEELING the pain.  

Then, I saw the benefit in having a high tolerance for pain -- my experience of pain was somehow less painful than others.

Today as I drove to the Sunday Service, a question arose about this high tolerance for pain.  Is this a good thing?

Having a high or low tolerance for pain implies that pain exists and that we deal with it in one way or another.  And yet, a few years ago, I began treating (praying) for the Divine Quality of Ease in my life.

I began saying "My Life is easy."  I bought the little button from a popular stationery store that would say "That was easy" when you pressed upon it, and I pressed it.  A lot.

Life is easy.  It's a Divine Quality.  The Divine creates the entire Universe and everything in it, and says "That's good."  And then it takes a little break.  Easy.  God says, "Let there be Light" and there is Light, and God says "That's good".  Simple.  Easy.

There is only One Life. That Life is God's Life. That Life is my life now.

So, I concluded that my life's natural Godlike state is one of ease and I could claim that for myself.  I have been doing that ever since.

I can say that for the next couple of years my life got easier and easier.  Sometimes, I was forced to realize that I was doing things 'the hard way' and I had to change my ways.  I would be in the store and the still small Voice Within would tell me to buy the cheese for the party now.  If I 'obeyed' and bought it, my life would be easier. If I ignored that Guidance, I would find that buying the cheese later in the week was more of an effort because stuff was happening in my week that I hadn't planned on and now I had to make a special trip to the store to buy cheese.

The Divine Within me knows the easy way for me to live. Divine Guidance ALWAYS makes MY life easier.  I have learned to trust It, most of the time.

But, this morning, that thought "I have a high tolerance for pain" with all of the proud feelings around it arose in me, and I stopped. Would having a high tolerance for pain create an easy life?  Maybe I should have a low tolerance for pain.

I used to think that people with a low tolerance for pain were the people who whined a lot when their body was uncomfortable.  I know those people.  I don't want to be one of them.  

But then I thought, having a low tolerance for pain or having a high tolerance for pain is really the same thing.  One expresses with lots of crying, whining and moaning (IMHO); the other with a stiff upper lip and being known as a 'good' patient. 

BUT THE BELIEF IN PAIN IS THE SAME.

Emma Curtis Hopkins says something about people being so proud about spiritually healing a disease, when she wonders why they allow themselves to get the disease in the first place.  The former Consciousness believes in disease; the Higher Consciousness only believes in Health.

I have tolerated quite a lot of painful experiences in my lifetime:  psychological pain, physical pain, emotional pain, painful relationships, financial fears, struggling quality of life, ...

However, believing in my Life being God's Life, the All-Good, has no room for any tolerance for pain because it has NO belief in pain. What I tolerate, I believe in, and it's what I get.  When I put my foot down and say NO MORE, it is no more.

And yet, I am the one who still measures the amount of discomfort I will tolerate.  I am the one who allows a certain amount of confusion, a dash of wastefulness, a phase of sloppy thinking. How much of a mess am I willing to tolerate before I do something about it? I give myself permission to do it later, feel bad, provoke an incident.  I have learned enough to forgive myself and move on, only to do it again later.

Why?  Because I have an unconscious measuring cup that knows how much dis-ease I can carry, without feeling TOO burdened.  Even though I have been reducing the level of discomfort that can be tolerated over the past couple of years, the fact is I am still carrying the cup.

There is only One Life, that Life is God's Life, that Life is my Life now.  It's easy.