The Purpose of Pain?

Words are interesting things. On their own, they have specific individual meaning. However, when put together with other words, they form statements that often stop us in our tracks. I had this experience recently while reading about NASCAR Driver Brad Keselowski.

In this article, he shares what he is learning from the philosophy of stoicism and the following statement made me pump my brakes (pun intended):

…a lot of people run from pain. Over time you start to realize that pain is your body flushing out weakness.

We spend most of our lives running from pain and doing everything in our power to avoid it. I wonder how this view could help us during challenging times?