Today, I stabbed myself with a toothpick.

And it got me thinking... how does this happen?

Why did I have to choose today to sit on my hand, and what was the toothpick doing underneath me in the first place?

How did I manage to sit on my hand in such a manner as to get stabbed with a toothpick?

My answer: The universe desires to tell me that it's not a good idea to sit on my hand. This was such an important point that it had to be accentuated with a toothpick.

This experience has a very simple solution: try not to sit on your hands.

But it's funny how many different ways people deal with being injured.

When having to deal with physical pain, some people swear. Others yell, pop pills, laugh hysterically, or read the Bible. Some people cry, others go, "Why me?" Some try to go it on their own and some turn to others. It's easy to make a joke out of pain, and it's even easier to laugh at everyone else's pain.

Then there's those who put the pain into something else, like food. The problem with putting pain in the food is that it makes it difficult to eat the food. You end up avoiding the food to avoid the pain.

Same thing goes for people. If you put all of your pain into people, it makes it difficult to be around people. If you treat people like pain, people end up not wanting to be around you. You end up avoiding the people to avoid the pain.

Emotional pain is dealt with much the same.

I think the best description of this is a lid.

I didn't make lids up, but lids are such a good description of pain that I feel I have to include it in here anyway.

Ever heard the expression, "bottled up inside?" It's used for someone who keeps pain inside, and a bottle is also a great visual for lids. To use the visual, you have to visualize- you guessed it, a lid.

People try to use lids to keep people out. They've been hurt before and don't want to be hurt again. They figure that if they shut people out, they can't get hurt.

But without risk there is no progress. Shutting people out doesn't keep you from getting hurt, it just allows you to bottle up your anger and eventually it blows. If you drown yourself in enough poison, you'll just get hurt more.

So what's a better way to deal with pain?

Let's go back to the toothpick example. If a person gets stabbed with a toothpick, what's the first thing they do? Well, if they're smart, they take the toothpick out. If they're really idiotic, they might push it in more, thinking, "ah, well, it's already in there anyway." No! That just hurts more.

Likewise, when someone hurts you, you don't go making it worse. You're not supposed to blame yourself and wallow in self-pity. That just makes it hurt more. Try to say, "This is an experience I can learn from. It helps make me a better person. This is what I need to learn from this."

The universe may be telling you it's a stupid idea to sit on your hands. (It should be, at least... ) Likewise, it may be telling you not to be so rash and think before you speak.

When you get stabbed by a toothpick, do you blame the toothpick? You better not be. So try and apply the same principle to people. We're all learning here, so try and see things from their view. (And no, I'm not suggesting you try and empathize with a toothpick, although it could make a fairly creative story. )

Next thing you probably want to do is put the toothpick somewhere where it isn't going to hurt you again. Unfortunately, I forgot to do this, so I'll probably get stabbed again, considering my luck. Which leads us to this: Anger is an irrational emotion. So when you use rational thinking, the anger should go away. So trying to see it from the other person's point of view helps calm you down.

To put the toothpick away, you have to decide that you're not going to be offended by the other person. Then you can talk to them and try and get them to see it your way.

Finally, forget about it. You can't be complaining about being stabbed by a toothpick all day long. Lighten up. Do something frivolous or unimportant, like this. This is a great example of something to do that's pretty easy and can put you in a good mood. It's also pointless, but it's a fun game with great music.

So remember... when karma comes back to bite you in the butt, the universe may be telling you... don't sit on your hands.