No Pain, No Gain.

We've all heard it, and at the time we were probably sick of it too. But, unfortunately for your body...and mind, it's true. Sorry.
I had this experience today, I've been practicing poi quite a bit lately and I finally figured out the windmill/chasing the sun/whatever you call it, and am now trying to do the 3-beat weave behind my back. The good news is that it's possible, the bad news is that learning it a great example of "no pain, no gain." I consistently manage to hit myself in the back of the leg, and now I can barely walk :P
Same goes true with any activity, take parkour for instance (another of my pet hobbies :) doing the simple stuff is fine, but if you want to do truly practice the art then you need to be prepared for some pain; falling is a big one, running into things, failed flips (ouch!) etc. are always a possibility.
Hmm, knife throwing also, I kinda hesitate to mention this one because of the number of near serious injury incidents. The only thing I'll say about this is that the catching of sharp objects between your palms that you see in movies is something that actually works... more than once.
School undoubtedly makes the list, enough said.
And I think I will add friendship as well, you can be 'friends' without pain, but in my experience these aren't as meaningful and you definitely don't miss them as much. Sharing painful experiences together and confiding in each other are things that mark true friendship. You can't know the sweet if you've never had the bitter.
I'm pretty sure the the journey of life, love, and the pursuit of happiness would be meaningless without pain.
Not that I like pain, don't get me wrong, I go out of my way to avoid it myself and inflicting it on others (most of the time, sometimes I snap a little bit though (sheepish grin) But if you've never had pain in your life then you haven't truly lived.
Pain can also be an ache inside you when people you love are no longer with you (cough, Conserve people, cough) but when they are gone you realize that they are the kind of people you need to surround yourself with... throughout your life.

"no pain, no gain"
what a silly little saying
you've heard it once, you've heard it twice
you've heard it fifty one-million times
or was if fifty two?
it's true though, what they say
those parents and teachers
friends, scholars and preachers
your soccer coach and training sergeant
the one thing they say the same:
is that without pain
there is very little gain.
But oh, wouldn't it be nice
to have someone who
never wants to hurt you
but even so, they hurt you anyway
but you wouldn't care
you would hold them close and say
"it's okay"
"no pain, no gain"
"and my pain...IS my gain."