Choose Your Pain

September 11, 2021•2 min read

Choose your pain: pick the struggle that builds clarity, discipline, and meaning.

I’m 34 hours and 37 minutes into a 36-hour fast.

Despite not eating anything for the last couple days, I feel surprisingly good. My head is clear. My thoughts are sharp. Physically I am feeling lighter, more energetic, and not really hungry at all.

The first 24 hours were the hardest, but after that it has gotten progressively easier.

I started this fast as a “cleanse” of sorts. I had eaten pretty terribly a few days ago and was laying in bed at about 8:30pm, stomach swollen and distended. I was uncomfortable both physically and emotionally. Not only did my stomach hurt, but I was also dealing with the guilt of having strayed from my structured eating.

At that moment I decided to get up and go for a walk. I didn’t want to go for a walk, but I knew that if I could just get moving it would make me feel better. So, I got up, got dressed, and headed out.

I also decided not to put in my earbuds and listen to music or podcasts like I normally do. I wanted to be alone with my thoughts and reflect on things a bit.

As I walked, my stomach still hurt and I got a stitch in my side. It occurred to me in that moment that I had simply exchanged one pain - being hungry - with another - a bloated and painful stomach ache.

The words from Jordan Peterson floated to the top of my consciousness, “Choose your sacrifice.”

Life is about suffering man. It’s about pain. It’s about heartache and illness and death. It’s not nice to us all the time. You are going to experience pain. That’s how life is.

But, here’s the kicker. You can CHOOSE YOUR PAIN. You get to do that and it is absolutely liberating once you realize it.

It is in that choice that you find meaning and hope and a future that you can contend with. It’s where you find the silver linings of love and ambition and potential. It’s on the other side of that pain that you find empathy and compassion.

So, choose your pain man. Choose your pain.

And by choosing your pain, maybe - just maybe - you can live with yourself.

choice, pain, suffering, fasting, discipline, self-control, resilience, meaning, sacrifice, clarity, reflection, personal growth, Jordan Peterson, mindset, intentionality, Tobe Brockner

Tobe Brockner

Tobe Brockner is an entrepreneur, author, and community-builder dedicated to helping business owners succeed while living life on their own terms. He started his first marketing business fresh out of college, and over the years expanded into consulting, speaking, and leading mastermind groups for entrepreneurs around the world. As founder of Katuva, a virtual assistant placement agency, Tobe provides the structure and support that allows business owners and leaders to scale without burning out. He has authored several books, including “Mastermind Group Blueprint” and “Kid Capitalist,” which introduce both adults and children to the principles of entrepreneurship. Beyond business, Tobe is a certified bourbon steward, a cigar aficionado, and a blue belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. He lives near Boise, Idaho, with his wife and has two adult children, Beau and Scarlett.

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