Article on Self Motivation
The Pain Of Birthing Your Dreams

Article on self motivation from the "Lessons from a Baby" series.

It was around 5 am on a Saturday morning when my wife and I heard a noise like a thud and before long we noticed that the bed we were sleeping on became wet. Her waters had broken or, as we say in the medical circles, her membranes had ruptured. She was in labour.

It was the first day of her maternity leave. She had just said goodbye to work the previous day and was hoping to get 2 week’s rest before the baby’s birth. But, bBaby had other plans. It was time.

We got to the hospital around 5:30 am. I did not witness the birth because the delivery room was occupied by another lady and the nurse felt that the lady would not be comfortable with me being there, even though I am a doctor. I was not in uniform. I had to make do with waiting in the corridor of the labour ward.

Later that day, in the afternoon, I heard screams and words of encouragement to “push.” Shiza was born weighing 3.2 kilos around 15:30 hours that day. His head was slightly “squashed” into a funny shape. His eyes and nose were puffy and his face bruised and red. Elsewhere on his body there were other signs of bruising.

My first born son, Shiza, barely 5 minutes old.

Birth is a painful process. I’m sure no one knows more about that than my wife. But, even for the baby it’s traumatic. There is a valuable lesson to be learnt in this.

“Birthing your dreams is never a painless process. It is the discomfort and pain of the undesirable position you are in that forces you to reach out to something better.”

Imagine what would happen if the birthing process were completely painless. The mother may not push – there will be nothing motivating her to push. The pain is a motivating factor because it is the desire to end the pain as quickly as possible that forces her to push.

Similarly, if you are happy, satisfied or content with your present situation you will not “push” to birth your dream. There will be no motivation to push if you don’t perceive the pain.

It is interesting that most things that we need to do in order to stay healthy eventually cause pain if not done. Urinating is a good example. If you resist the urge to urinate, very soon your bladder will get overstretched and you will experience pain. If you continue to resist you are in danger of absorbing dangerous waste into your body.

Therefore, pain is good. It is a sign that something is wrong and that you need to take action. Don’t ignore it or try to cover it up. Acknowledge it and do something about your situation.

Avoiding to deal with pain and discomfort is a major cause of trouble for a lot of people. If not dealt with, it will manifest itself in other ways such as anxiety, depression and even physical illness. Broken relationships are a sadder consequence.

TAKE ACTION

After reading this article on self motivation it is up to you to take action and apply what you have learnt to your own situation.

- Acknowledge your pain.
- Find its root or cause.
- Deal with it – birth your dream. It is likely to be the solution to your pain and discomfort.

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