🔧 Pain is Just a Dashboard Light (and I’m Driving With the Hood Up)
Daniel Conderman 
Most people think of pain as the enemy — something to run from, numb, or fear. But I’ve always seen it differently. Maybe it’s because I’ve lived through surgeries where doctors raise their eyebrows like, “You’re not even flinching?” Or maybe it’s because I’ve also wept over a stubbed toe like a soap opera star. Either way, I’ve come to realize this:
Pain is just the check engine light of your body.
Unpleasant? Sure.
Unwelcome? Often.
But unnecessary? Never.
🧠Pain isn’t evil — it’s a notification
Your body doesn’t hate you. It’s not being dramatic. It’s doing what it’s built to do:
🚨 “Hey, something’s not right here. You should probably look into that.”
That sharp twinge in your tooth?
That dull throb in your hip?
That firework in your spine when you lift something wrong?
It’s not a death sentence. It’s a push alert from the operating system that runs everything else. And yeah, sometimes the alerts are overkill (hi, paper cuts), and other times they’re oddly calm in the face of disaster (why didn’t that broken toe hurt more??).
🦴 Case in point: I touched my jawbone this week.
I didn’t mean to. I had a dry socket. Long story.
But I realized: it wasn’t the pain that wrecked me — it was the not knowing what was going on. Once I knew?
“Oh. I’m just exposing bone to air. Cool. Not great, but not mysterious anymore.”
Knowledge turned the panic dial down to a manageable 3.
⚖️ Everyone’s pain scale is tuned different
You ever notice how some people act like a hangnail is an ER emergency, and others walk around with cracked ribs like it’s just a Tuesday? It’s not about toughness — it’s about how we interpret the signals. Some of us treat every pain like it’s a full-blown system failure. Others wait until the engine catches fire before pulling over.
Neither is wrong. But if you listen — really listen — pain tells you exactly what’s going on.
🛠️ Final thought: Feel the pain, then figure it out.
Don’t fear it. Don’t ignore it. And for the love of your jawbone, don’t poke it with your tongue.
Use it.
Pain is a system designed to protect you.
It only becomes suffering when you forget what it’s for.
