Good morning, everyone ~
It could not have been better had Hollywood orchestrated the arrival — Autumn arrived and with apropos cooler/drier conditions. The climatic change has generated a delightful ripple-effect of “better” ta-dah!
No magic cure, however. I am still dealing with the back pain. Improved weather conditions simply makes the back pain a wee bit easier to tolerate. There is measurable improvement with the back issue. I can stand up/sit down without yelping/crying. The recliner and cane are likely going to be permanent partners in my future, along with the exercises/analgesics.
I will NOT be facilitating today’s meeting, unfortunately. However, I do plan on/look forward to being more ambulatory soon. Perhaps today I will take a test drive around the neighborhood. If that goes well, I will gradually expand my boundaries. Just thinking about this one small return of Something Normal is enough to make me smile!
Measureless gratitude/appreciation to each of you who sent “get well soon” messages/cards, and the delivery to my door/phone/computer of many helpful items/offers to do more. You surrounded me with prayers-n-care — the best “medicine” ever!
A big SHOUT OUT to my husband for all the extra work he has had to do in the meantime. The cats/turtles/I are very grateful!
Two books I highly recommend:1. “Pain Free ~ A revolutionary method for stopping chronic pain”, by Pete Egoscue, with Roger Gittines.
The authors explain the brain/body partnership in easy-to-understand terms, and offer helpful suggestions for exercises that will indeed assist in bringing relief to the area of insult. They also recommend that you keep a journal, so that you have an overview of your progress. “What you see, you can change.” Just as in resolving brain-files, when we see our personal patterns, we begin to reclaim our personal power/true responsibility in creating resolution.
2. “Pain: the science of suffering”, by Patrick Wall.
Wall reminds us that “the pattern of response varies from person to person, and within an individual it varies from one painful episode to another.” This seems like a Common Sense and therefore needless statement. Yet, it remains necessary to remind ourselves/others of this truth.
“Every sensible surgical patient has good reason to be fearful, anxious and depressed. The intensity of these feelings will affect the intensity of the pain. No amount of psychotherapy or drug therapy will abolish these entirely reasonable emotions, but they help.”
Both these books address the importance of remembering that the individual person remains unique within the confines of their personal pain. There is no one-size-fits-all solution to anything. Everything should be custom-fit to meet the individual situation/ability/circumstances. In other words, the better acquainted you are with your brain/body and mind/spirit, the better partner you are to yourself in dealing with Life’s challenges. Ta-dah!
In recruiting self as a best-partner in one’s own health/well-being/pain management, stretching our neurons toward a broader perspective/increased awareness remains an important “tool”.
THIS WEEK’S CHALLENGE, then, comes in the form of statements versus questions. After you read the following few lines, and if you are inclined to do so, please share (if only with me) your broader perspective on the subject.
Up until 1937, California state law permitted slave-labor auctions … that allowed white people to buy Native American children as ‘apprentices’ and to ‘bid’ on Native Americans who were declared ‘vagrant’ and to oblige them to work off the cost of the bid.
Which means that I am only one generation removed from that era of slavery. My parents would have been old enough to have been in the midst of it. My grandfather could have been “obliged” to have been so apprenticed.
Step into the shoes of the second/third generations removed from direct experience, and the perspective of Life as it was “back then” becomes much further removed from personal awareness. Yet, the generational inheritance of unresolved brain-files remains a very real phenomenon. What happened in the Past does not remain in the Past. Through time and distance, resolution becomes more difficult. Understanding remains difficult, if not impossible, without personal experience.
Who among us is willing to step back in time and “wear” such an experience? How can we expect anyone to fully understand our personal pain, when Life itself is so mysteriously personal/personalized?
Which is where the term “mercy” enters into the equation of pain-management (brain/body, mind/spirit partnership). In the original Hebrew, the word “mercy” has a long but elegant meaning: “Come, Lord ~ wear me and my life as if I am you. Know me, all the way back to First Ancestor and all the way forward to Last. Know me to that fullness, and teach me know myself and you in like manner.”
Could it be that “pain management” is part of “self awareness”? Is it possible to heal the past (that is, resolve brain-files) by way of getting better acquainted with the fullness of one’s own self? Mercy may be a goal too vast to ever achieve in the short span of one human lifetime; yet, it remains a most worthy and worthwhile goal to work toward.
Stay safe. Stay kind. Stay as full of mercy as is humanly possible, toward self/others.
Gentle hugs/much love,
Marian