Pain

We all experience pain at some point in our lives, whether it be physical pain or emotional pain. How you cope with pain enables you to manage the stress and anxiety that it brings. Some of us manage pain by developing both healthy and not-so-healthy coping mechanisms. Physical and emotional pain are equally harmful, and it can affect you on multiple levels of your life. Do not let anyone else tell you otherwise. Pain can ruin your day or even your week, and you sometimes feel helpless. I tried not to let pain control me, even though it felt like it controlled all the aspects of my life. Trying to understand one’s suffering can feel somewhat debilitating at times. Your individual experiences with pain can vary from person to person. You can take the right steps to find your ability to control your experiences and, on your terms, find the best ways to help alleviate your pain. It is not easy coping with pain, especially when you are faced with comorbid health issues. It will feel like a constant balancing act, as you try your best to cope with everything that is happening to you. For those individuals suffering from depression, the uncertainty may cause frustration and despair. I know it is no easy task, but try to remain sane, even if you are in pain. If you are not in pain, just be glad you got to live again.

“Pain from problems and disappointments, etc., is inevitable in life, but suffering is a choice determined by whether you choose to compare your experience and pain to something better and therefore feel unlucky and bitter or to something worse and therefore feel lucky and grateful!” – Victor Frankl

"Accepting pain can be difficult. It’s just better than the alternative, which is to live in a state of perpetual suffering.” 

- Vidyamala Burch & Danny Penman

"Our experience of pain, in fact any unpleasant experience, is strongly influenced by our state of mind. It simply feels worse when we fight it" 

- Gary Hennessey

"If you are distressed by anything external, the pain is not due to the thing itself, but to your estimate of it; and this you have the power to revoke at any moment."

- Marcus Aurelius

"Be patient and tough; someday this pain will be useful to you." - Ovid

Once you are overwhelmed by stress and anxiety, it causes emotional pain, which leads to depression.  It is hard enough to cope with physical pain, while emotional pain is a different ball game. Medications may serve you well, to numb the physical pain, but your emotional pain may sometimes feel unfazed. The impact and consequences of emotional pain are as detrimental to your health as much as any physical pain you experience. How you cope with both matters, for you to live and manage the pain you experience. Healthy coping mechanisms when living with pain matter. Those individuals seeking solace in alcohol and drugs will eventually realize that it does more harm to themselves, rather than bringing about relief. Support groups are helpful, as they help you gain insight and help you realize that you are not the only person suffering. Therapy is beneficial since it helps you identify cause and effect regarding your emotional experiences. Sometimes you may feel that you are all alone in this fight; therefore, it is helpful for you to have a dedicated, strong support system. That does not include a drinking buddy or a person to share a joint with, keep in mind it will only give you pseudo relief temporarily. Your ability to cope begins and ends with you, and it is no doubt in your control alone.

“Healing severe or chronic pain, I believe, includes transforming our relationship to the pain, and, ultimately, it is about transforming our relationship to who we are and to life.” – Sarah Anne Shockley,

“Positive self-talk is to emotional pain as a pain pill is to physical pain.” – Edmond Mbika

"I am not the weather. I am the wide and open sky, and so I can let pain move through me and out of me." 

- Josie George

"You never know how strong you are until being strong is your only choice." - Bob Marley

"Every failure is a gift. Every pain is an opportunity."

- Maxime Lagacé

Regardless of how pain changes your life, the right treatment approach can make an enormous difference in how you can live.  Being informed and staying informed can prove helpful. Despite the issues I face with chronic illness and disability, I find holistic alternatives to help alleviate the pain I experience. When my physical pain is out of control, it impacts my blood pressure, and that is not good at all, especially for my heart. It can affect your entire body and cause unnecessary harm. Medical and mental health treatments can improve your well-being and ease your overall pain. Stigma associated with pain, whether it is emotional or physical pain can prevent us from getting the help we need. Do not let misunderstandings or the lack of knowledge limit your ability to seek treatment when you need it the most. We often hear of people using illicit drugs to numb themselves, not realizing they're causing much more harm to themselves, rather than finding less harmful ways to reduce their pain. Unhealthy alternatives to remedy unresolved emotional and physical pain create many more problems than trying to actually help yourself get better. Taking the right steps to help yourself make a significant difference in the long term. Seeking help when you need it the most is vital to achieving therapeutic stability when coping with pain. 

“Do not resist your pain. Surrender to the grief, despair, fear, loneliness, or what form the suffering takes. Witness it without labelling it mentally. Allow it to be there. Embrace it. Then see how the miracle of surrender transmutes deep suffering into deep peace.” 

– Eckhart Tolle

“In the sea of life, pain is a tide that will ebb and weave, continually. We need to learn how to let it wash over us, without drowning in it. Our life doesn’t have to end where the pain begins, but rather, it is where we start to mend.” 

– Jaeda DeWalt

“Although the world is full of suffering, it is also full of overcoming it.” 

– Helen Keller

“Everyone has a doctor in him or her; we just have to help it in its work. The natural healing force within each one of us is the greatest force in getting well.” – Hippocrates

“Learning's a gift, even when pain’s your teacher.”

– Michael Jordan