This is the story of the Ice Age when all species were involved in a fight for survival. Porcupines too were struggling for survival in thundering cold. They were fighting a losing battle. They decided to huddle together to generate warmth from close contact but it proven to be a bane than boon.z

Known for their thorny body, they couldn’t keep close contact as their thorns were hurting each other, being huddled in a group.

They decided to part ways as it was hurting too much. To be in close company with each other.

This led to their losing the battle against killing cold, with their numbers going down rapidly.

Finally, the Porcupines decided to huddle again or they would vanish from this planet. They agreed to bear the pain of each other’s company to survive.

Can you draw a simile from this for human relationships?

Learning to live with the pain if it’s a question of one’s survival is the message from this tale.

A lot of us have people who hurt, or are thorny in their attitude and approach and we try to avoid them. It is not wrong to do so, for the sake of one’s mental peace.

But sometimes few relationships are unavoidable, few situations are beyond one’s control. What do you do then?

“I have always believed that either you change the situation or bear it with a grin”

Co-existence is the order of the world

It is about co-existence. The world is more connected than ever before.

 You can’t change the world. Learning to co-exist with the world is the only option.

This option is not about looking helpless as it only reinforces being and feeling like a victim. It is like abandoning your real power.

What’s The Way-out?

1. Take charge of the situation:  It takes guts to swallow pain and carry on with life. So what’s the best way to tackle pain?

          Bless the source of pain. I know it may sound ridiculous. But trust me, it works like magic.

        It initiates healing. It is not a favour to another person, its necessary for one’s own peace of mind and emotional well-being.

• Change your perspective: Another way of looking at it is that everyone in every situation is trying to do what’s best according to their understanding and environment.

What may be right for me could be wrong for someone else!!

So, the person or situation at the heart of this pain is just doing whatever they could do. They may be unfair to you but you don’t know where they are coming from.

What it does is instils some degree of greater patience and respect for others.

• Leverage it for growth: If you go deeper, pain is a precursor to growth. No one learns and advances, sitting in one’s comfort zone.

The muddle of facing and bearing pain, not only makes us wiser but also instils strength and grit.

You would notice, after some time the acuteness of pain diminishes as the body starts becoming used to it.

The whole idea is about changing the perspective. If we keep cursing the people giving us pain, for whatever reason, pain is bound to get multiplied.

Living comfortably is easy, enduring discomfort is difficult. Success beckons when you are ready to do go that extra mile.  It is a crash course to become a better version of ourselves !!