I want you to try something for a second.

Open your right hand. Now use your left hand and pinch the index finger of your right hand hard enough to sense the pain.

How do you feel?

Do you feel confused?

Do you feel angry?

Do you feel scared?

Do you feel alert?

Do you feel alive?

You know, sometimes all it takes to shift our focus from frivolous and ordinary tasks to something deeper is some pain.

Before reading this, you were most probably occupied with some other activity.

Now, I have your attention.

Pain has mainly two forms.

It can be either the driver of change and a reminder that our life isn’t exactly close to what we envisioned it to be.

Or it can be a devastating force that leaves us powerless and reduces our ability to objectively evaluate our self-worth.

The former is empowering.

The latter is weakening.

Your interpretation of pain says a lot about your character and how much you have invested in this interpretation.

Regardless of which form you decide to embrace, pain will inevitably lead to a change in your present state.

That change will create an imbalance in your rationale and undoubtedly lead to the initiation of decision-making processes.

Pain is a tool.

It is a tool used consciously and unconsciously by many agents in most facets of your life.

It is a very effective motivator that can influence specific choices that you make and affect areas that you decide to be part of.

This lucid realization might elicit mixed feelings within you, but, at the same time, it can empower your sense of self-awareness.

Pain is an omnipresent force.

You can’t avoid it, but you can definitely manage it.

This management is not a matter of luck.

It is a matter of introspection and making use of one of the most powerful tools you will ever encounter.

This tool is called monk mode.

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These are just some thoughts I have on pain and how monk mode can really help one reduce mental pain significantly.

I elaborate more on the topic in my latest video essay. You can check it out here.