Pain and Pleasure, two sides of the same coin

All living creatures understand these two concepts on a basic level. We avoid pain, and we seek pleasure. However, I wonder what these truly are. What makes pleasure pleasurable? What makes pain painful? Can pain be pleasurable? Can pleasure be painful? What are they in their most basic nature? Do they intersect? Can they be transposed? Does one necessarily negate the other?

In its simplest form, I feel pleasure is just something that is attractive, and pain something that is aversive. But what if one finds pleasure in pain, or pain in pleasure? If pain and pleasure were stable concepts, how could this occur? The biggest influence is your perspective and previous experiences. I wonder if one who enjoys pain has discovered some intrinstic value in it. This split nature of what can be called pleasure or pain leads me to believe they are the same thing. A driving force. In this belief, a view is formed that any pleasure can become pain, as any pain can become pleasure, it is simply a matter of perspective.

'As I sit here and dine.

 I look across to a friend of mine.

 Looking deep within his eyes,

 I sense he feels the food I love will be his demise.

 But as he ate, a disgusted look came,

 though he enjoys it all, just the same.'

Pain and pleasure are simply a change, a change with a biased judgement placed upon them. They are percieved one way or another based solely on if one considers that change desirable or undesirable. A fakir will sleep on a bed of nails as soundly as a baby in mother's bosom. Looking further into the dynamic of pain and pleasure, we might begin to see them in a new way. Possibly, one might see pain as more valuable than pleasure. Pain is something which drives us away from bad choices, while pleasure is a reward for making good choices. But on a basis of learning, if at every choice, one ended up with a pleasurable result, would one really be learning what a good choice is? However, if one were to have painful results, you are forced to learn, forced to adapt. Each painful result teaches something of what should be avoided. The simple event of suffering pain creates instinctual avoidance, and is the primary method by which we learn through experience. It is through our suffering of pain and sadness that we grow more resilient.

One could go so far as to say pain is a good thing. This opinion applies to both physical pain and emotional pain. Pain is good in many ways. Pain gives us scale to all of our pleasure, it teaches one the ability to value pleasure, or the absence of pain. Willfully suffering pain can also aid us in other ways. Through suffering with immense pain, our view of lesser pains is dampened. The scale to which we judge other pain is based on the highest levels we have ever felt. So knowing this benefit, how might one obtain it in the most enjoyable way? It is possible, through a shift of perspective, to actually enjoy pain. I am not saying this is a good thing to do all the time, as pain exists as a signal to aid us in self preservation. But in the moments which there is no alternative but to suffer pain, one might as well enjoy it. Enjoy it as an affirmation of life. Enjoy the prospect of what you will gain through suffering this pain. So next time you have a bad headache, or some other affliction of pain, consider accepting the pain and experiencing it. It might just make your next moment of pain not seem so bad. Who knows, you might even like it.