Did you know that there are different kinds of emotional pain?
Humans experience both “clean” pain and “dirty” pain.
Clean pain creates a cleansing effect. It helps you heal and needs to be felt in order to move forward, beyond the source of the pain.
Dirty pain creates the opposite effect. It keeps you feeling stuck, preventing you from problem solving or being able to move on.
Here’s an example:
Your child (or other family member) receives an unexpected diagnosis.
Clean pain says - “This isn’t what I was expecting. I am mourning the loss of his/her childhood (health, freedom, etc.). I need to be sad or disappointed right now.” You let yourself feel the sadness and disappointment and then are able to move forward and make decisions on handling the diagnosis.
Dirty pain says - “This is so unfair. My child shouldn’t have to suffer. I am a terrible parent. I am angry. What did we do to deserve this?” Your mind spins over and over in these kinds of thoughts and can’t seem to get out. You aren’t able to see past it and move forward because of the anger and guilt.
Our feelings come from our thoughts, so changing the way you think about a situation will change the kind of pain you feel. Clean pain will help you heal while dirty pain will keep you stuck.
Which will you choose?
P.S. If you want to experience how working with a life coach makes creating new thought patterns EASIER, FASTER and WAY MORE FUN, click the button in the lower right corner to schedule a FREE no pressure, no obligation coaching call.