........might seem a strange thing to say, but when we consider the reasons behind pain and ill-health then we can indeed feel grateful for the messages that pain brings.

At a physical level, if we put our hand into boiling water we feel such pain that we pull the hand out again almost instantly. The pain is protecting our hand from further damage, and in this case we can clearly be grateful for the pain.
Our bodies are also capable of creating pain in different circumstances.

To understand what follows, we must first acknowledge that we are more than physical beings; we also have emotional and spiritual aspects to our existence. For us to be in optimum health all three elements - physical, emotional, spiritual, need to be in balance. We live not just in a world which is visible to us, we are surrounded by a 'sea' of universal energy or 'life-force'. This energy, also known as 'prana', or 'chi' (qi), flows into our energy bodies through openings called chakras, from there along channels called meridians, and into the glandular system of the physical body. Any emotional stresses in our lives can cause disruption to this flow of energy, and most of the time our emotional bodies can deal with and repair the damage with no long-lasting effects. However, if the stresses are severe or carry on over a long period, the body will be unable to deal with things until the original cause has been addressed. The body will then draw our attention to this need by creating pain or ill-health.  Pain is a sign that the body needs something in order to function properly, in the same way that thirst is a sign that the body needs water. Once the root cause of the pain is addressed, the body has no need to keep producing the pain and the healing process has begun.