Hi Bryan,
It is nice to meet you, I do wish it was under different circumstances.
Finding our limits can be hard because we are still the same person we were before but now there are those limits and all the feelings that go along with the limits. It is frustrating and maddening and emotional and so much more all wrapped up inside us.
I try to remember on those tough days when the roller-coaster has me twirling in every way possible and my strength seems to be gone, that it is okay to not be okay.
We have our hard days, we have our impossible days and I keep telling myself as long as I keep moving forward when that pain monster lets me breath again, then I win, not the pain.
I have lived with pain for 30 years, it started in my early 20’s and I am much older now. I want to say that there comes a time that I found peace with what my life had become however I would not be totally honest with you or myself.
I don’t think I ever found peace, what I can share from my own experience is that once I found my way through the stages of grief over the loss of what once was, it became a little easier to begin to find my journey forward.
That new journey showed me that I was still me, even though I could not do all the things I once did. The acceptance and hope allowed me to be open to finding ways for me to contribute and feel useful and needed and accomplished.
A big thing that has helped me over the years was having support from others who live with pain.
I want to let you know that we have a support group that meets on a conference call every Tuesday. You can read more about the calls here; https://paincommunity.org/tpc-outreach-support-conference-calls-2023/
The calls are every Tuesday at 7pm ET, 6pm CT, 5pm MT and 4pm PT. The call in number is: 267-807-9601 Passcode: 491-268-096 and press the # key.
I hope that this finds you getting over the pain flare that you were experiencing earlier in the week.
My best to you,
TPC_YaYa
TPC Community Moderator
“The views or opinion(s) contained herein do not necessarily represent those of The Pain Community.”