NO PAIN IS INDEED GAIN
Growing up, my parents told me to ‘do your math, go practice, no pain, no gain!’
And that is what I understand: study hard, practice hard, no pain, no gain. But recently, I discovered that when I practice my piano and violin, no pain is my gain.
I started playing the violin when I was four years old. I practiced for an hour or two a day and I loved it. However, while I was in Grade 2 in school, my mom noticed that my neck was crooked and one of my shoulders was higher than the other. She was very worried about me and we didn’t know how this happened. I only know that once my neck or shoulder was not right, my mom would either call it out or correct my posture.
My entire family also tried correcting my problem. My oldest sister, who plays violin professionally, discovered that it was from the way I was holding my violin, which was hurting my neck and back. But then, we all thought my pain was from my practicing too hard, which by the way, they were all proud of my hard work! (Talking about it now, I think my sister should become a chiropractor).
I discovered that when you practice your instrument, you shouldn’t be in pain, no matter how long you practice. If you are in pain, check it out to see if you have the right position. No pain is gain when you practice.
There is a story that I read about no pain (hurt) is gain. Long ago in China, a single mom was a housekeeper for a wealthy family. One day, the master asked her if she could stay until 10 pm as they were having a party. The housekeeper said, “Yes, but I have a four-year-old son who stayed home alone. I have to let him know!”
The master replied, “Please take him with you tonight.”
When the housekeeper’s son walked into the house, he was surprised to see such a beautiful palace. The mom took him into the bathroom, closed the toilet seat, and told her son, “This is the special room the master prepared for you. This is the special chair that you can sit on,” she pointed towards the toilet.
Next, she pointed to the counter.
“This is the big table for you to put your stuff on.”
She brought him a plate of snacks and a piece of cake, then left him to work. The boy had never seen such a beautiful room with mirrors and he didn’t know it was just the bathroom. He sat on the floor, used the toilet seat as a table and sang while enjoying his lovely food.
The master didn’t see the housekeeper’s son. He couldn’t find him in the living room or the hallway. While he was wondering, the master heard someone singing in the bathroom. He opened the door and the housekeeper’s son stood up and thanked him for the lovely room he
prepared. The master’s eyes were wet, thus he walked back to the dining room, told his guests that he was sorry but had to leave the table and eat with his special guest. He then brought his food and shared it with the little boy on his special table.
Many years later, that little boy became rich and always donated his money anonymously to homeless people because he knew there were a lot of people who are struggling,
and there are also a lot of kind people, like the master, who are there for you. The little boy’s mind never got hurt, so no pain was his gain.
Getting back to me, when my parents told me to do math, I didn’t hate it, but I didn’t really like it. Therefore, it was a pain in my butt. But now, I love science and I found when I do a lot of physics and chemistry questions, it is basically fancy math. I
started enjoying science much more. Now, I do it every day. I don’t have the annoying pain to study. Instead, I have gained so much knowledge, like geometry, algebra, the periodic table, gravity - it is lots of fun. No pain, no gain tells you to work hard, but no pain is gain tells you to work hard correctly so it helps you gain more.