your understanding.
Even as the stone of the fruit must break, that its
heart may stand in the sun, so must you know pain.
And could you keep your heart in wonder at the
daily miracles of your life, your pain would not seem
less wondrous than your joy;
And you would accept the seasons of your heart,
even as you have always accepted the seasons that
pass over your fields.
And you would watch with serenity through the
winters of your grief.
Much of your pain is self-chosen.
It is the bitter potion by which the physician within
you heals your sick self.
Therefore trust the physician, and drink his remedy
in silence and tranquillity:
For his hand, though heavy and hard, is guided by
This is a medical metaphor for the fact that our bodies and souls know things our conscious minds do not. 
 
 Your pain is the potion. “Potion” here means “medicine” or “remedy,” rather than the magical sense of the word. It is bitter, because it is difficult to deal with, accept, allow yourself to feel, or manage your pain. So many remedies are, in fact, bitter. The slogan of the cough syrup Buckley’s, for example, is “It tastes awful… but it works!” 
 The physician within yourself is your instinct. Often our bodies know things that we do not. For example, fear is a powerful, reptilian, evolutionary response. Often we don’t know what we’re afraid of or why, but our body and our species remembers, and tells us to get out of there. Fear, like pain, is unpleasant or even crippling, but it is useful. 
 
 
 Pokémon fans… I couldn’t resist.
On Pain