You Can Still LIVE with Chronic Pain

“Those who have long enjoyed such privileges as we enjoy forget in time that men have died to win them.” -Franklin D. Roosevelt

When we have lived with chronic pain for so long, it can be easy to forget the joys we once experienced before they hit.

This past Memorial Day weekend, I got to remember some of that joy when we went to the beach. I don't sit out the sun for too long, because it causes a lot of pain.

But sometimes we forget...I forget...that the gift of freedom allows us to pick and choose when we can enjoy these blessings, and when we can take a break and rest from them.

Because of the countless lives lost by brave men and women, I have the freedom to choose.

Because of the countless lives lost, I got to bury my feet in the sand that day with my precious daughter

Because of the countless lives lost, I got to thank my God FREELY that I got to experience this with her and my church family.

We don't have to allow our conditions and our pain to steal our joy.

Does that mean we will always experience joy through the pain and suffering? No.

But we don't have to let it dictate our emotions and deprive ourselves of amazing memories and experiences that we are worthy to have as well...that many people sacrificed their lives for, so we could continue living.

May I live my life honoring their lives and sacrifice, and ultimately honoring the one who paid the highest price, by living out my mission set before me with bravery, courage, endurance, love, strength, compassion and perseverance.

And sister, may you do the same.

Emotional Triggers

We talked about physical triggers. Now we are going to talk about emotional triggers.

One of the easiest ways to combat your emotional pain is to be aware of what triggers it.

The long-term goal is to work through these triggers so they won't impact you as much.

Maybe even one day, they won't be triggers anymore.

But until you do the work to get there, be aware of them, honor them with grace, work on creating a healthy plan for now and trust and know that you WILL get to that place step by step.

Our emotional pain can DEFINITELY make our physical conditions worse, WAY more than we realize.

We can literally make ourselves more sick from stress. So it is important to be aware of these things, so you can navigate through them healthily, and some may be more subtle than you think.

Some emotional triggers for me:

• Yelling
• Certain things from my past/PTSD

Here was a surprise/subtle one that I finally confronted and accepted:

• Not completing projects *GASP*

I didn't realize how it kept perpetuating my existing negative core belief that I'm unworthy and useless.

The interesting thing, was that I was ADDING more commitments and projects to fight this core belief, to the degree I couldn't keep up, and when I couldn't keep up, I'd believe these negative thoughts about myself even more. 🤦🏻‍♀️

Now that I am aware of this, I am CONSTRAINING more (saying no more and being more focused) so I can complete my commitments more feasibly.

This does not mean I am finding my worth in completing these projects. That is a whole other topic in itself, but it does mean that through this awareness, I am taking action on things I have control over to not only complete the projects I set out, but also minimizing my emotional pain (and therefore my physical pain) in the process. 🙌🏼

What are some of your emotional triggers? Are there any that surprise you?

Physical Triggers

Are you aware of the physical triggers you have? I've asked my clients this often, and many times they have gotten so used to going with the flow, that they aren't actually intentionally aware of their triggers.

When you are more aware of your physical triggers for your chronic conditions, you can reduce the actual symptoms by not only more awareness, but also reducing the emotional pain that comes with our conditions, which in turn reduces physical symptoms.

When you are aware of them, you can better plan how much or how little you want to expose yourself to them depending on what’s on your schedule, including accounting for rest times when you do flare up.

Here is a short list of some of mine:

• Sleep: number of hours, positioning, texture/firmness of pillow
• Driving
• Overused vocals (talking too much and singing)
• Nutrition
• Extreme heat/cold
• Certain exercises What are some of your own physical triggers for your physical conditions?

Take some time today to note them down so you can have more control over them, than the symptoms having more control over you.