Pain, on its own, does nothing. As humans with a bunch of sensory overload, we are not built to just experience pain. We are built to interpret it and give it a meaning, with a bit of story, and we end up romanticising it or forcing a meaning where there is none.
Do we leave it there, or do we choose to give it meaning anyway? Let us pivot a bit.
If we say pain does nothing, does love do something?
One passive and the other active. Pain happens to you. Love is something you do. However, like pain, love has no guaranteed outcome.
Pain says: this hurts, now what? Love says: move toward something, or someone.
To the question earlier, do we leave pain meaningless, or give it meaning?
I guess love is often the tool we use to answer that.