Bad Pain, Good Pain

I have been thinking about pain.
It has been awhile since I have experienced any real pain; in fact the last real pain I can remember is after an unexpected heart surgery.
Missed box jump, sudden twist to keep from landing on my face, “Who stuck that knife in my back”?
Landing and thinking this isn’t going to be good; Adrenalin pouring out, the adrenergic system on overload.
I tried to go to spinning but couldn’t sit on the bicycle without feeling the muscles tighten.
That was stupid; I shouldn’t be trying box jumps after carrying golf clubs for eighteen holes and doing leg presses.
The pain was real and bad; I could perceive no benefit to my person from experiencing this pain except to remind me that box jumps can be hazardous to your health when unprepared.
The other bad pain, a chest incision, an unstable chest and breathing, but that is a different story.
My brief description of two bad pains is not an exhaustive list; other pains in that category (mental pain, unrequited love, extreme humiliation, etc.) are extensive and we have all felt and been haunted by them.
Now to good pain.
Good pain does not elicit the sudden rush of adrenalin, the flight or fight; instead it is associated with the release of those wonderful little proteins know as endorphins.
This is the pain of extreme exercise, exercise to failure, exercise to the limit of endurance, the 10 yard gain against heavy hits, the end of the marathon, the success of the triathlon and suddenly the brain is bathed in endorphins, the feel good molecule.
The pain is real but it is relished and invited as a welcome guest.
It is easy to recognize good pain and bad pain;
Bad pain makes you small and vulnerable.
Good pain puts you on a plain often associated with Nirvana and minor deities.
So the next time you begin to hurt, if you don’t see Angels, be very, very afraid.