Anticipating Pain

Have you ever noticed that brief little sliver of time between when your little toe hits the table leg and when the pain hits? You know it is going to hurt, but the thought somehow shows up before the pain does. The anticipation of pain shows up before the pain.

Step on a lego? That just hurts immediately. No anticipation.

I went to the dentist the other day for a couple of fillings. An entire appointment full of anticipatory pain. There was a bit of pain–the painkiller shot was not fun–but nothing like I was anticipating. My body yo-yo’d between tensing for pain and forced relaxation as I told myself to chill out.

I think there is a lot of anticipatory pain. The fear that something is going to hurt colors much of what we do and think, some of us more than others. The fear can be physical or emotional.

I think most of the time–like my dentist appointment–things don’t hurt as much as we fear.