Pep Talk: "Purpose in Pain"

While climbing aboard the gym Stairmaster for the usual Sunday morning sweat, this simple dude from Missouri had no clue to the theme of this week’s Pep Talk. However, it didn’t take long before clarity crashed into cranium.

A mere five minutes into a 50-minute workout, while watching ESPN’s Countdown to Kickoff prior to the NFL games, an update story on former Rutgers’ University football player Eric LeGrand appeared on the gym television. The standout defensive lineman suffered a paralyzing injury two years ago during a game against Army. The 22-year-old’s story of hope, despite adversity, is inspiring. The New Jersey native has a recently published book: Believe: My Faith and the Tackle that Changed My Life where he encourages others to find purpose in pain and face setbacks with an overwhelming amount of strength.

Observing physical therapists vigorously working the collegian’s arms and legs, and the determined look on the young man’s face, was visible evidence the budding sportscaster is walking his talk. 

LeGrand’s plea to others, expressed in the book, to somehow, someway, find purpose in pain kept running through my mind as the minutes ticked away and the workout neared conclusion. Is it really possible to find purpose in pain? It made me think of family and friends who are battling a variety of cancers right now. Would it be possible for them to find purpose through the surgeries, chemotherapy, radiation and other necessary treatments to survive?

Will it be possible for a friend, and his gorgeous wife, to ever find purpose in the pain of losing their talented, but emotionally troubled, son to suicide? Will it be possible for a US Army warrior to ever find purpose in the pain of losing every limb to an improvised explosive device while serving in Afghanistan?

Will it be possible for you and me, despite what ails us, to find purpose from pain? Heck yes!

But it will not be easy. Few worthwhile things in life are, correct? For whatever reason my mind wandered to many years ago, and a painful moment, at the Tampa, Florida airport. Unexpectedly and suddenly, my first marriage had imploded. It was my responsibility to hand-deliver then five-year-old son, now 23-years-old, to his mother and new love interest for a holiday visit. At that moment, it was a chore to find purpose in that pain of sorrow. Eventually it did appear.

Life’s big question: Will we become victims of its circumstances or students of its experiences? Thanks to LeGrand, we have a wonderful reminder to a comeback strategy focused on understanding we’re not alone; connecting with like-minded people and, finally, encouraging one another to put fear aside and allow wonderment to win in successfully moving forward.

That’s how we find purpose in pain. Good luck!