Camille Ibardolasa January 10, 2019

Two Sides of A Coin—Pain and Pleasure

Have you ever experienced something for so long you feel like you are in
heaven? It could be a great piece of media, a test grade, results of something,
good news or even that time to you confessed to your crush and they returned
your feelings? And what about the opposite? Rather than the positive results or
great works, instead it is a disappointment, a pang that hurts inside your heart.
It’s like that sometimes. Those abilities shown here are pain and pleasure.

Pain and pleasure—two terms that are important to life. These words are
common to describing on how a person is feeling, both negatively and
positively in that order. Pain and pleasure hold an importance to our lives. It
helps us decide on which path to take or what choice to make. They are what
help us be human—two keys that develop us. However, in all their similarities,
they are still polar opposites from one another and they both impact people’s
lives differently.

According to Vocabulary.com, pleasure means “something or someone

that provides a source of happiness.” Something like being at a party with
friends, enjoying food at a nice restaurant, finally gaining a good test grade that
you’ve studied so hard for and reveling in it—that is pleasure. Pleasure is the
feeling of happiness and satisfaction. You are pleased by it with an elevated
degree. It is something you like to experience. Pleasure is one of the traits we
have as humans. We can’t get enough of it.

As for Pleasure’s opposite Pain, taken from the same source, its meaning is
“a physical or emotional discomfort.” It seems simple really and well, it is. But
sometimes it isn’t. It can infer to a small pinprick of a needle or a really bad car
crash. Mentally speaking, crying over a test or a long-lasting depression is also
considered as pain. It is an experience, like pleasure. Pain causes emotional or
physical distress, and even though this pain is negative, it is good for your soul, to
feel this way. It is a natural part in life like pleasure. Pain gives a lesson to learn
from mistakes and reminds us that we are human.
 Now, the number one question: “How is pain the opposite of pleasure?”
Two abilities with two different emotions. To feel pain is to experience the things
that you don’t want to experience. It hurts while in pleasure, nothing really hurts
because all you feel are the positive feelings. Pain is something to be hated and
pleasure is something to be loved. That is human nature to know this as it is. But
no matter the instances, it is still a part of life. Pain and pleasure can go side to
side despite the differences. You can experience pleasure and then pain the
next second. (Kind of how I felt when writing this essay and the
computer/internet gave out on me every time I tried to save.) You can have
pain while someone is having pleasure or having pleasure in pain. (Hopefully
not.) Pleasure and pain are two sides of the same coin, and we all need them.

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