I had an eventful childhood. My adolescence was even more adventurous. I played football on uneven bare ground, I rolled tyres on the streets. I did high jump on hard surface. I know what self-inflicted pain means but I also know that some self-inflicted pains come with pleasure. I nursed wounds only to return to the street the next day to add more bruises.
As young as I was then, I knew that there is a difference between the pain that comes with open wounds and the pain that comes with the treatment. The difference is purpose. Sustenance of injury may not be intentional, hence the pain that comes with it may not be for a purpose but the pain that comes with the treatment is for a purpose. The purpose is to heal the wound.
Our mothers were mini-nurses in their right. They usually had a first aid box, well equipped. I remember methylated spirit. There was hydrogen peroxide. The strongest but most potent of all was iodine. Even when our mothers did not approve of our escapades on the streets, even if they had to spank us as they applied the treatment, they were always handy to help nurse our wounds.
Not to writhe in the pain of an untreated wound that was prone to infection, we subjected ourselves to the pains of treatment. The pain that comes with the application of iodine on a fresh wound is better imagined. It is severe, to say the least, but we would bear it because we knew the result is bigger than the momentary pain. A healed wound was a license to return to the street at the earliest, back to freedom. That is purpose.
Pain ultimately produces something but not all pains produce harmful results. Some pains birth anger or bitterness but some pains also birth purpose. The pain of childbirth is one of such. The cry of a new born wipes away the pains of childbirth, even when the mother is still healing from bruises. Good things don’t come easy. The greatest achievement has a story, beneath it is a pain tied with purpose.
No one likes pain but pain and purpose are connected. Some pains are meant to redirect your gaze and reposition you to a path less travelled. If you are vigilant to see and attentive to hear in the middle of the storm, what looks like affliction may be purpose wrapped in pain.
When it looks too easy, the zeal to pursue is usually not strong enough. The excitement that comes with a big win relates more to the hurdles you had to surmount. Denzel Washington wraps this up perfectly – “Ease is a greater threat to progress than hardship.”
Pain and purpose are connected. Pain births purpose.
Akin Oluwadare Jnr
07 September 2026
