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What Pain Teaches Us
My 83-year old husband cries out in pain during the night, and moans and groans during the day. Not exactly music to my ears, especially since I suffer from chronic pain.
What has been a balm to me as George's primary caregiver, is all your hugs and prayers.
I refuse to be defeated by pain--my own and my vicarious suffering for my husband.
On Pain
Kahlil Gibran
And a woman spoke, saying, Tell us of Pain.
And he said:
Your pain is the breaking of the shell that encloses your understanding.
Even as the stone of the fruit must break, that its heart may stand in the sun, so must you know pain.
And could you keep your heart in wonder at the daily miracles of your life your pain would not seem less wondrous than your joy;
And you would accept the seasons of your heart, even as you have always accepted the seasons that pass over your fields.
And you would watch with serenity through the winters of your grief.
Much of your pain is self-chosen.
It is the bitter potion by which the physician within you heals your sick self.
Therefore trust the physician, and drink his remedy in silence and tranquility:
For his hand, though heavy and hard, is guided by the tender hand of the Unseen,
And the cup he brings, though it burn your lips, has been fashioned of the clay which the Potter has moistened with His own sacred tears.
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The only thing I know about my chronic, never ending pain is that it means that I'm still alive. The day the pain ends will be the day I die.
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6 ReactionsChronic pain means it’s long lasting to my knowledge … crying out is not except able . I hope you have tried a few doctors and or physio
Blessing to you and your family
Many. Thanks.
So true--and well put. Very helpful. Thanks.
My hope is that none of you who suffer from relentless, excruciating, mind-numbing, soul-robbing pain would not be offended by this line from Gibran's poem: "Much of your pain is self-chosen." That line doesn't apply to physical pain--psychic pain perhaps. That line should not distract from the lesson of the poem--that pain is a catalyst for deeper awareness, forcing us to confront our limitations as a means to personal and spiritual growth.
As part of my personal growth, I have learned to: respect other's pain; embrace my own pain--trusting that it will pass while knowing that it will return; accept that at this stage in my life, pain is one of the dues I pay for still being alive; and to banish self-inflicted pain that comes from resentment and self-pity.
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6 ReactionsChronic pain teaches me difference—
a quiet truth others cannot see.
It awakens my soul to the beauty
of moments passed over as ordinary.
Time whispers my body is fragile,
each attempt a weight, each step a cost.
Yet patience grows where pain resides,
a disguise I wear to keep moving on.
And still, hope rises—
that one day I may return
to the memory of living
without pain,
to the freedom of being whole.
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2 Reactionspedrov57
Thanks for sharing this lovely poem. Your poetry reminds me of Pablo Neruda.
"Give me, for my life, all lives, give me all the pain of everyone, I'm going to turn it into hope. Give me all the joys, even the most secret, because otherwise how will these things be known? I have to tell them, give me the labors of everyday, for that's what I sing."
Pablo Neruda
Thank you George for your insightful, thoughtful words on the topic of pain. I picked out one short phrase from your post:
"..watch with serenity..."
Serenity. Magical word, magical place, accessible to all, anytime. Sometimes it can be hard to simply find or summon serenity. Regardless of how one arrives at serenity, it is the place from which we can objectively consider all the things in our lives. I've known both great pain (physical and psychological) and great serenity/happiness (again, physical and psychological).
So I don't pursue life. I pursue the serenity that makes all of life a wonder - not always wonderful. But it's been a great journey, and I fondly recall the past now. That wasn't always the case. The easiest way for me to find serenity is to stay as present as possible. I know that's not revelatory, we are frequently advised to "stay in the moment".
It's true though. We only experience the moment we are in. Everything else is in the past, and gone, or in the future, and unknown.
Joe
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1 Reaction@pedrov57 I’ve been living in 6-8 pain for the better part of 20 years. I think if I woke up pain free, I’d never leave the bed !
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4 Reactions@bilt4pain Yes! I can not imagine what I would start doing. We can only dream of what is to come. God Bless.
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