That hurts
Don’t Measure Pain
If you see a medical practitioner for any type of pain, there is the eventual question to determine the threshold. This may be on a 1 to 10 basis or another misguided method. The issue is that no one can agree on how pain can really be measured because no one can feel your pain except you. I often marvel at how an athlete gets hurt but still is able to bounce back up to wobble back to the dressing room. Minutes earlier, they couldn’t even stand and now they are waving as they are guided back to receive attention for some giant boo-boo. When asked about their pain level, are they giving the stats from the start of the injury or the current level during treatment? Nurses and doctors seem bent on asking for a number to access the need for treatment. But only the injured know the level of pain.
Adapt to Pain
Some can adapt to pain. This may be good mind control, but I know that I need intense distraction to get my mind off of any current pain. That accounts for the extensive number of products for sale that promise relief in some form. We like to think that we can think better if we can take the edge off of pain. That is probably true for at least a short time. I do not really want to get used to pain. I know that it happens but I search pretty quickly for a way not to martyr through it. I will never make sainthood.
Retraining Path
Not wanting to feel pain can result in avoidance of the type of circumstances that caused it or remediation. After relationship break ups, a good cooling off period often reminds us how to breathe alone. After falling on ice skates that are only used twice a winter, muscle throbbing may be the signal needed to use the skates more often. We can retrain ourselves. This type of awareness may mean that we make it a point to override those deep-seated emotional reactions that rewarded us previously. Humans like attention in all of its forms. Committing to yourself might turn off the sympathy from others. And we like to be taken care of sometimes.
Worthy
We are worthy of emotional freedom, self-care for our minds, bodies and souls, honor, respect and love. Nurturing ourselves ensures that these never go undone. As this month ends, review your status. Are you using your journal? Are you breathing with your eyes closed? Can you place your hand on your heart and feel your heart beat? What do you really want after all this self-attention? It is commitment time. Next month it will be time to look forward. This year created a solid base. Replacing poor values with working ones means that you have looked inside and seen the root of who you are. The whole point is to commit more to yourself. Now we move on.
A locked door only opens with the right key.
