The Painful Truth About Never and Forevermore

Never:        At no time; on no occasion; in no circumstance; not previously.
Forever:     For all time, for all eternity; for a lifetime; for an infinite amount of time.

Pain:  The condition or fact of suffering or anguish, especially mental; torment; anguish.

Pain motivates the individual to withdraw from damaging situations, to protect a damaged body part while it heals, and to avoid similar experiences in the future.   Most pain resolves once the noxious stimulus is removed and the body has healed, but it may persist despite removal of the stimulus and apparent healing of the body.  Sometimes pain arises in the absence of any detectable stimulus, damage or disease.

"Why do I hate pain so much?" I asked SuperK, right out of the chute, first thing in the morning.  Might as well get the focus on me ASAP.

"Well, nobody likes pain," she said, quite reasonably.  "But you have a tendency to get into your Never and Forever mode.  And that's your mother.  You think it's always going to be like this and it's never going to change."

Mom!!

Then I have to think about the counterpoint offered by dear Kenner who had only three responses and three responses only to anything I said: This, too, shall pass; Principles before Personalities; and I forget the third thing.  I talked to this man over the course of 25 years and everything that I brought up fit in one of these slots.  Talk about keeping it simple.  It's remarkable that one of the slots - This, too, shall pass - has never really entered in my consciousness in any long-lasting and meaningful way.  It has been an burr under my saddle now and forevermore.  Maybe that's why he kept repeating it.

I can only hope that I'm learning something.  My wife will frequently say to me: "Why do I try to tell you anything?  You're going to do whatever you want to do anyway."

Well, guilty as charged, unfortunately.

Stubborn:  Refusing to move or change one's opinion; obstinate; firmly resisting; persistent in doing something.

I know that I'm somewhat compulsive in my exercising.  I know I have a lot of nervous energy that I exacerbate with caffeine and sugar, and that it feels good to burn off this mental dross.  I'm also vaguely aware that I'm no kid and that some of this activity is starting to boomerang on me, causing me discomfort that is a little more severe and a little longer lasting.  When the thing that is supposed to be good for you is causing more trouble than it's solving . . . . 

"Why do you have to go out and take four hour hikes in the mountains, anyway?" she said, getting exasperated and, frankly, a little worked up.  "Why do you have to swim four times a week?"

I don't know.

Compulsion:  An irrational need or irresistible urge to perform some action, often despite negative consequences.