I have found there is no way to live well with chronic illness and chronic pain without drastically changing my lifestyle, my attitudes and my perceptions of pain, of myself and of life.
I might not have changed in these ways otherwise, but now that I’ve had to in order to cope with pain and the limitations of my condition, I realize they are valuable lessons and approaches to life that are positive and healing on multiple levels.
Having been in pain for years, I am convinced now that living with it has brought me some unexpected gifts of wisdom.
I might not have changed in these ways otherwise, but now that I’ve had to in order to cope with pain, I realize they are valuable lessons and approaches to life that are positive and healing on multiple levels.
Admittedly, most of these lessons were unwelcome at the time. But, looking back, I can see what I’ve learned from the experience of living with pain.
Slowing Way Down
One of the gifts pain brought me was that I had to slow way, way down and move only at the speed that worked for my body, not at the speed that worked for my former lifestyle.
Pain forced me to operate in a completely different rhythm than I was used to. Life became simple, minimalist, quiet and slow.
This was a pace I normally would have found boring…