What Pain Teaches Us

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

@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 !

@heyjoe415

...and thank you for sharing your perspective, which you expressed so eloquently.

George's Wife

Chronic 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.

Hello everyone,
Since my small abominal njury in 2010 which needed surgical repair but didn't get until 2016, my life has become one of chronic, ever worsening pain.
What has it taught me...its led me to Dr Joe Dispenza, the science behind why meditating works, its introduced me to the World of Neuroscience ( now my passion).and the brain's neuroplasticity, and fear of our pain holds us in the never ending cycle of pain. Im learning the body has the capacity to heal, that Western medicine has no good answers for chronic pain but hollistic help is better. I'm learning to not fear my pain, which is disabling but to allow my wonderous body to heal at its own pace. Our body stores trauma, sometimes the thought of my injury immediately makes it hurt, so I know the trauma is stored in my brain/ my body. Nature has been proven to regenerate our bodies, help us heal. Im learning to move as best i can despite pain and most of all im learning there is a much greater understanding of hollistic healing in Eastern/ Asian practices. Don't dwell on pain, its hard but that creates poor body chemistry. Live in gratitude for small things, its changing my mentality and slowly my fear dissipates. Gd luck to each of us on our journey. Im very thankful for this blog .

Thank you bilt4pain,

I'm sorry about the pain you experience. Thanks for sharing with us. At 71, I put in the work necessary to stay healthy, but chronic pain can strike anyone. My most recent experience was the three months before I had my shoulder replaced.

The pain started, really discomfort, started slowly. As osteoarthritis tightened its grip, I was in everyday pain - and because I scheduled it so late, had to wait 3 months for the surgery. I had the shoulder replaced on August and, OMG what a difference without that daily pain.

But you are an absolute hero for dealing with 6-8 pain for such a long time. What is the nature of the pain, if you don't mind my asking.

You still have your sense of humor, and I think that's incredible and inspiring.

Thank you friend.

Joe

Hi Annie,

Thank you for such a thoughtful, elegant, and useful comment. I am sorry for your chronic pain, but your attitude and beliefs about it are inspiring.

One line really stuck with me:

"Live in gratitude for small things..."

Sometimes I completely miss the small things, the kindness or courtesy of a stranger, The kindness of my wife to make dinner for us every night, the marvelous surgeons I've had over the years, and on.

I recently tried acupuncture (on a lark, really) for my lower and upper back and was amazed at the great results. I'm going to pursue acupuncture as a means of creating clear energy flow in my body, and dry needling to address specific and tight muscles in my back.

I agree there is a lot to learn from Eastern medicine. And it's been practiced since at least 500 BC, if not longer, by the Chinese and elsewhere in Asia. Eastern medicine, to me, is results oriented, while Western medicine is proof oriented. They can both be put to great use.

I've had both knees, right hip and left shoulder replaced - all by brilliant surgeons and then with the help of gifted PTs. It's amazing to me that these replacements are even possible - much less the degree of accuracy and pain reduction achieved.

After my first acupuncture session, I immediately felt relief in my back, and an overall sense of calm. It was terrific!

Thanks again Annie.

Joe

Thanks Pedro. Did you write this? It is elegant and moving. Thank you. Joe

Hello everyone,
Since my small abominal njury in 2010 which needed surgical repair but didn't get until 2016, my life has become one of chronic, ever worsening pain.
What has it taught me...its led me to Dr Joe Dispenza, the science behind why meditating works, its introduced me to the World of Neuroscience ( now my passion).and the brain's neuroplasticity, and fear of our pain holds us in the never ending cycle of pain. Im learning the body has the capacity to heal, that Western medicine has no good answers for chronic pain but hollistic help is better. I'm learning to not fear my pain, which is disabling but to allow my wonderous body to heal at its own pace. Our body stores trauma, sometimes the thought of my injury immediately makes it hurt, so I know the trauma is stored in my brain/ my body. Nature has been proven to regenerate our bodies, help us heal. Im learning to move as best i can despite pain and most of all im learning there is a much greater understanding of hollistic healing in Eastern/ Asian practices. Don't dwell on pain, its hard but that creates poor body chemistry. Live in gratitude for small things, its changing my mentality and slowly my fear dissipates. Gd luck to each of us on our journey. Im very thankful for this blog .