If pain must come, may it come quickly. Because I have a life to live, and I need to live it in the best way p... — Paulo Coelho

If pain must come, may it come quickly. Because I have a life to live, and I need to live it in the best way possible. If he has to make a choice, may he make it now. Then I will either wait for him or forget him.

Author: Paulo Coelho

Insight: We spend so much energy trying to delay discomfort. We hint instead of ask, we wait instead of decide, we let situations drag on because we're afraid of the sharp pain that comes with clarity. But Coelho is pointing at something real: uncertainty often hurts more than resolution does. The limbo of not knowing—where you're half-committed, half-hopeful, unable to move forward—can be worse than a clean answer, even a painful one. There's something almost practical about wanting pain to come fast. When you're in genuine doubt about something that matters, you're already suffering. You're just spreading it out, living in a fog instead of in your actual life. The person asking for a decision isn't being dramatic; they're asking to stop wasting their own time. And that's actually self-respect talking. Either you get what you want, or you accept it's not happening and redirect your energy somewhere real. The twist is that most of us aren't avoiding pain—we're avoiding the feeling of being rejected or wrong. We prefer the limbo because it lets us imagine things could still work out. But imagination doesn't pay the rent. Your real life is happening right now, in this uncertain space, and you're only half-living it. Coelho's point isn't that pain is good. It's that avoidance is expensive.