Why develop our ability to cope with pain as an inevitable fact of life?
The 2-year-old COVID-19 pandemic has reignited a long-forgotten war for mankind, but it has lost its impact. New age normals have led to debates about how existential distress is increasingly classified as diseases or psychological deficits and how perfectionist health goals might become a problem.
We avoid discomfort due to the strain it can cause. However, the concept of "existential health"—formed because suffering is an inherent part of existence and actively engaging with pain is deemed essential to health—should be examined.
When health is there, we rarely recognise it. When we think of health, we usually think of disease-free. When we are in distress, have an issue to solve, or face an unforeseen event like illness, we need to ponder and make tales.
During disease, we recognise the existential aspect of health and our finite presence in the world. Illness can impede our life-directing activities. Often, disease raises mortality awareness. The unpredictability of disease might often make us question our existence.
It forces us to realise that our past choices do not define us. Freedom and duty are often strained. When we release anything in life, this can be misinterpreted with sadness.
However, it sometimes allows one to choose a theme and style for a new chapter in one's life, often with a twist. An illness might force us to rethink our responsibilities and priorities. This can be healthy. Healthy existential awareness can coexist with illness.
When we're healthy, other things matter more. Busy living. We care about our health, yet we rarely reflect about it. Being healthy means “being involved, being in the world, being with other people, actively and rewardingly participating in one's daily affairs.”
When we are reasonably undisturbed, we feel our ordinary life is “simple.” (Heidegger, 1957)
Being “completely” well in the idealised sense may make us unwell in the long term. Stress and difficulty boost our immune, musculoskeletal, emotional, and cognitive systems.
To strengthen your immune system, catch a cold occasionally. People with significance in their life typically have tension and worry. Health is a lifestyle, not a possession.
Life throws us curveballs, and we close down rather than open up. Life is full with opposites. Thus, being unencumbered, ready, and open is something we notice and consider.
They make us feel alive and happy. We can appreciate our joys since we know suffering is part of life. Perhaps health is more about surviving life's contrasts? Health may also depend on our ability to accept life's unavoidable pain?