sight, nor will there ever be. The
notion of "forever" is a fallacy; In
good times, "forever" can give us
a false sense of security and in bad
times, "forever" can be defeating,
discouraging and demoralizing.
By definition, a "moment" means
a brief period of time, a point in
time and/or present time. Moments
in life are just that, moments
- they come and go - there
are ebbs and flows - and they cannot
be captured, paused, or recreated.
Reminding yourself of this
little fact can help immensely in a
chronic pain sufferers experience -
in other words, at it's the most
basic application, a pain level of
"8" on a numerical pain scale is
not going to have the same intensity
every minute of every hour of
every day.
Get Your Mind
Off You
When we are struggling with
chronic pain, it's effortless for us
to throw a fantastic pity party... or
a few. Frankly, the pity party I
threw for myself when I was first
diagnosed with endometriosis was
epic! In all seriousness, it is entirely
reasonable to focus on ourselves
38—iPain Living Magazine
- after all, our bodies are in
pain, our lives now have to be
adapted to our new limitations,
and it can begin to feel as though
we are being held emotionally,
hostage. More so, we begin to feel
lonely and misunderstood, which
often cause us to, inadvertently
isolate ourselves.
However, with 100 million American's
in chronic pain, I can promise
you are not alone. Being
around others who understood my
plight was life-changing for me. If
you're "sick" of everything chronic
pain, try volunteering at your
local animal shelter, dedicating a
Saturday to helping the homeless
or supporting a cleaner environment.
Keep in mind that volunteer
opportunities and organizations
aren't always looking for physical
labor, so don't let that discourage
you before you even begin.
Change Your
Perspective
My father and best friend always
said, "life is all about perspective,"
and it couldn't be more of the
truth. Perspective is a funny thing
because we see our perspective as
truth. There is a Chinese Proverb
that says, "Instead of complaining
that the rose bush is full of thorns,
be happy the thorn bush has roses."
Both perspectives are correct,
and both highlight the dichotomy
of life -however, one perspective
emphasizes the ugliness that can
exist in this life while the other
focuses on the beauty.
Don't know where to start? When
forming a new perspective, begin
by considering the other side of
the situation or contemplating the
bigger picture. Remember that
changing your perspective (on anything)
takes time and practice so
be patient with yourself. However,
once you master this skill, I promise
you will never view life in the
same way.
(Connued from page 37)