One of my followers wrote about experiencing chronic pain in his blog saying in part:
“Pain has become my constant companion, and it’s damned hard not to complain about it.”
Dealing with chronic pain successfully is one of my favorite topics. As someone with cerebral palsy, I experience chronic pain constantly. Some days it seems like everything hurts and I’m alone in experiencing my particular pain. So I realized that if I wanted to have a life, I had to learn to deal with it.
Although every situation is different, here’s what works for me.
Taking care of my body- this involves eating well, drinking enough water and regular exercise. Some days I absolutely hate doing this and frankly I don’t always do what I need to do, especially drinking enough water. But I found the old adage to be true, take care of your body and it will take care of you. I also want to acknowledge my followers’ efforts in this area. Keep going. It will serve you well and diminish your pain eventually.
Taking care of my mind– this involves being aware of my thoughts. Not necessarily changing them, I found that just being aware of them has a profound impact, especially on my ability to accept what I can’t change. I feel better. The pain meditations on Headspace are particularly helpful: https://www.headspace.com/register-v1.1?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=1919439341&utm_content=68065219102&utm_term=350473434400&headspace&gclid=Cj0KCQiA2b7uBRDsARIsAEE9XpELjv2pR7mg1rY_NclAtKOqUgVSzjPD6D4IA3Mf7H_HWDEUL3HYT-YaAvm9EALw_wcB
Know that some days will be better than others– and that’s okay. Keep doing #1 and # 2 anyway if you can.
Finally, please know that you’re not alone. Apparently, 20% of the world’s population experiences chronic pain, according to the International Association for the Study of Pain (IASP) https://www.iasp-pain.org/PublicationsNews/NewsDetail.aspx?ItemNumber=8340&navItemNumber=643 That’s a lot of people! (1.8 billion people by some estimates)
Please contact me if I can help you deal with chronic pain or other obstacles to getting what you want.
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