Pain

The other day I was at the dentist office having some teeth drilled down to be capped. Since I hate to have my face numb and spend the rest of the day acting like a stoke victim and drooling, instead I just have them give me a little gas and then it helps me cope with the pain. In that state, I still feel all the pain but I just don't care. My time in the dentist chair is a great study in pain (believe me I have spent enough time there to now have a master's degree in pain).

I realize that we are all born with this innocent trust that life will be carefree and then in that relaxed state, we are surprised when pain hits. After a few connections with those painful nerve endings, we start to get anxious and on guard. That is what my life in the dentist chair use to be. Now with the gas I am relaxed and having a great time and even when a nerve is touched, I just think wow that hurt but who cares.

It is exactly what someone could do with emotional and physical pain. It is tempting to just use some kind of drug to help deal with the pain; but because the source of the pain isn't eliminated and then the drugs loose their effectiveness, the need for more drugs escalates.

Because when I am in the dentist office I know where the source of the pain is (dentists are sadistic) and that it won't always be there, I can temporarily use the gas and then walk away not using it as a coping mechanism for life. In life, on the other hand, it is important to understand where the pain is coming from and try and eliminate it or if it is not in my power to control; learn coping skills that are natural and productive. I want emotional pain to be my signal to reach out to God and get His support and help instead of breaking into my dentist's office. The more I learn to trust Him, the more I can relax knowing that I will be able to cope with the pain that life gives me.

I have to honestly admit though that each time I am under the influence of the gas, even when I am just sitting and waiting for the torture, I completely understand why someone would want to use drugs especially when they are in pain. It feels great and it is just like it says in 3 Nephi 27:11 "But if it be not built upon my gospel, and is built upon the works of men, or upon the works of the devil, verily I say unto you they have joy in their works for a season, and by and by the end cometh, and they are hewn down and cast into the fire, from whence there is no return."