Recognizing Pain, Overcoming Through Spirit

As of late, I have been in a state of elevated pain. Whether this is due to weather or overexertion while training at home, I have noticed that it has become increasingly debilitating. Continuos physical pain is not something that is new to my life, though, and each day presents new challenges on how to overcome it. Sometimes the solution is to simply power through and pray it goes away, other times I have to force myself to not move and focus on my breathing until it passes. I have learned this in my training though that it is possible to not only overcome your pain for a moment, but to completely surpass it. As you grow stronger in your spirit as well physically, things that used to be incredibly painful can become a minor nuisance if you even acknowledge them at all. Other things that you never noticed before will begin to bother you. This is a testament to the body's frailty and how limited we truly are. No matter how strong we get, there will always be a new pain or a new ache that will arise. As I have learned recently, true strength is not based on how little pain you can feel, but how you overcome and surpass the challenge of pain when it blocks your path. For me, I know that the only reason I have the strength to overcome my pain and the desire to become stronger is from God and God alone. He is my strength when I am weak. He helps me to run when I doubt that I can even stand. It is by His strength alone that I am who I am. See, that's the real challenge we as martial artists face. We all desire to be strong and grow, but unless we have a solid foundation and a willingness to learn, we will simply wither. A strong tree can not grow in cement. It needs soft soil to truly flourish and roots that go deep and spread wide to gain its strongest form. Much in the same way, we need to acknowledge that we are weak for the Tree of Life to grow in us and roots of wisdom that grow deep and wide to use the knowledge we gain to its fullest potential. Only then will we bear the fruits of our labor, the ability to teach others and plant the seed that will start this process in them. The real questions now are these, how do you deal with your pain? Do you choose to ignore it, or let it make you stronger? Where does your strength come from, the limits of your being or something far greater than you can even begin to fathom?