Hope through stretching

I've seen physical therapy before at Tallahassee Memorial Rehabilitation Center and as before, it is a painful experience. While the patients at TMRC were elderly and kept their physical reaction to a facial expression, the residents at Hogar Padre Vito had no censorship on their reactions. At this particular time, I was watching the children residents of the orphanage and they cried and yelled out in protest. I wondered how aware the children were and whether or not they understood why they were in pain. Did they know the pain was actually a positive thing and the therapy was helping them? I didn't think so. Not only were they disabled both mentally and physically, they were also children. Most children don't understand what's going on--their comprehension focuses on emotion. Yet, as I watched them cry and the physical therapist try to soothe them while stretching their stiff limbs, I felt comforted and at peace with what was going on in front of me. Because it was an occasion of hope and progression.
These children were being forced to do something that was good for them. I wondered how many of us "normal" people would do something that was good for us even though it hurts that badly. In a way, the children were fortunate that they couldn't run away or argue their way out of physical therapy.
Perhaps the most inspiring part of the physical therapy was they way the therapists consoled the patients. Before they began the therapy, they played with the children and kissed them and tickled them and made them feel loved and comforted. Then they slowly began the stretching.
I left with this question in mind: is it better to be forced to do something good for yourself or to choose to do something bad for yourself?