Is there anything good that has come of you being in pain?

[flower12345]

It's difficult for me to be positive sometimes. I am truly TIRED of having CONSTANT pain. It's hard.

So, I thought that I would ask this question:
Is there anything good that has come from you being in pain?

For me, well, I have met a lot of wonderful people here. Also, I feel like my relationship with God is better as I depend on Him a lot now--more than ever before--even though I've been like this for about 10 years. I know that He doesn't give me more than I can handle.

Finally, I feel that there are just so many caring people in the world. I have learned to depend on people and accept help when I need it.

Lots of hugs to you from me,

Flower

[namnam46]

Flower - Thank you so much for asking about my trip.  I'm SORRY it took me this long to write about it BUT I JUST journaled about it.  I HOPE that you enjoy it.  

The trip was MORE than I dreamed it would be!!!

Love and {{{{Hugs}}}}............Mama Sherry  :}

[flower12345]

Tuck and Mama Sherry,

How was your trip? I hope that you had a great time!

Hugs,

Flower

[Tuckamore]

I think chronic pain has made me more humble. It makes me count my blessings and be truly thankful for every thing I have...no matter how small it may seem to others. I am not talking about material things.

I believe in that old saying. We are not judged by how much we love...but by how much we are loved. When I think of "judged" I think of it as here on earth also.

CP has forced me to slow down. You see so much more when you are walking instead of running. You can see with your heart.

Needless to say I too have made many friends....many of you here on MH. I cannot wait to meet my new best friend, Sherry! Although it feels like I have know her forever. :o) Sherry's friendship is a blessing that would have never occurred if I (or she) did not suffer with Chronic Pain.  

Chronic pain, like anything in life is what we make it, to a degree. We can pity ourselves day after day...or we can make the most of it and try to see a silver lining. Don't get me wrong. I am no Pollyanna and I have days that are just as dark and just as painful as most of yours...but it's our attitude and what we do with the majority of our days that counts. We're all entitled to down days. We just have to remember to get back up.

My Blessings are Many!
~Tuck

[deadgamegrrl]

I agree that all the wonderful people on MH have been a blessing, as is the escape that coming to this forum where there is always support, understanding and love no matter what!

I also think that I have become more appreciative of the little things in life; seeing a favorite bird at my feeder can totally make my day!  And I realize that work is a gift, not just something to be gotten through, because there may come a time when I can't do it anymore.

I also finally threw myself into mindfulness meditation with amazing results.  I did it for pain management but it has helped me so much in other areas of my life.  The past few weeks have been a physical and mental hell due to a traumatic event, but without meditation I would have been an even bigger mess.  

Hugs to everyone here!

~~ dgg

[flower12345]

Thank you Mama Sherry and HUGS right back:)

I can't wait to see pictures of your trip! You must be so excited. What a blessing!

Hugs,

Flower

[namnam46]

Hi Flower and Allison,

Thank you for your being SO EXCITED for Tuck and me!!  I will let you know about out visit and post pictures on MH.  Tuck is going to post them for me as I don't have the proper equipment for MY cell phone to do this.  :{

Flower - I'm  right there with Allison about how NICE this post is and I, too, hope that others will post on here and give their experiences too.  

All of us APPRECIATE BOTH of you and your posts that you do. You BOTH are very positive and help ALL of us!!

So THANK YOU to both of You and MEGA [[[[HUGS}}}}............Mama Sherry  :)

[flower12345]

Thank you both for responding!

Mama Sherry--I am SO happy that you are going to visit Tuck.

Alison-Thank you so much:) I also hope that others respond. I don't always post often, but I still read a lot and  I always love reading your posts and I always appreciate all of the support that you give.

I think a huge thing for all of us is all of the friends we have made and all of the support that we have here. It really is amazing to know that we have a place that we can go to when we are down and that there are people here who truly understand what it is like to be dealing with this every second of every day.

Another positive thing:
I think that over the years, I have learned that it really is okay to say "no, I can't do this or that." I still feel bad when I have to cancel something, but I'm getting so much better at not feeling guilty about things like that.

My therapist always tells me to do one or two things for myself every weekend--even if it's something simple like renting a movie and ordering in dinner. She says that it's important to be patient with yourself and to still try to do things that you like to do (for me it's shopping online--even if it's just with $20 I can spend a lot of time finding what I want--as long as I'm not in a flare), even if it's not what you could do before. Also, she always encourages me by telling me that I'm doing a good job. I think that everyone with chronic pain should have someone to tell them that...that you're doing a good job with life because it is hard to have pain all the time and even getting through each day can be a task sometimes. But, everyone here keeps going--and that is truly wonderful!

I really appreciate each and every one of you.

Hugs,

Flower

[optimus22mac]

This is a great post! I also find it really hard to be positive sometimes---actually, a lot of the time:)  But this forum has been a God-send for me.  There are so many caring and loving friends that I have made.  I also get so much inspiration from some of the posts or members...on this forum and others here on MH.  

Mama Sherry--I think it is AMAZING that you are going to visit Tuck!!! What a great thing for both of you.  That is a perfect example of the loving friendships that are forged here:)

Flower--You have brought something very positive to the forum today...and I really needed it! Hopefully others will join in and give us more inspiration.  I think I recall another time or 2 that you've brought the group together to see how we are all doing, and that is truly a GOOD thing:)

Thanks again...Alison

[namnam46]

I just realized that I typed ONLY an A! when I was talking about the WONDERFUL Doctors HERE in ARIZONA!!!  I'm VERY tired and sleepy and just didn't Proof Read it well enough.

Oh well, I think it's time to go to sleep for me.  LOL

{{{{{{HUGS}}}}}}............Mama Sherry  :)

[namnam46]

Hi Flower,

Oh YES!!  I've met so MANY GREAT new Friends on MH!!!  I NEVER would have met YOU OR any of My OTHER wonderful Friends!!!  I didn't believe that ANYONE could meet people on the internet and ACTUALLY have REAL and TRUE Friendships with them.  I now have SEVERAL that I'm Friends with on Face Book and I'm even getting to go and visit with Tuck in Florida in less than 2 weeks!!  I have been TRULY blessed with these GREAT Friends!!

As you know, I'm ALMOST 65 and I've had my pain for ALMOST 40 years!!  I had the VERY best Doctor's in Tulsa beginning when I was 20.  I've only had ONE "BAD" Doctor and that was in Nashville and he was an Orthopedic Surgeon that has FORTUNATELY RETIRED last year!!  He can NO LONGER perform "bad" surgeries on ANYONE!!  No one else has to suffer because of his ineptness!!  Understand that ALL of my OTHER Doctor's in Spring Hill, TN were Wonderful.  :)

Also, I've met the most WONDERFUL Doctors here in A!  ALL of My Doctor's here in Phoenix are ABSOLUTELY the VERY Best Doctor's in the World.  I DEFINITELY have been blessed with World Class Doctor's!!  

I have ALWAYS been Truly Blessed!!  Thank you for posting this and allowing us to realize that SOMETIMES our pain isn't ALWAYS bad!  :)

God Bless You.................Mama Sherry  :)