Finding Your Peace

     God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change;

                                     courage to change the things I can,
                                     and wisdom to know the difference.

     Most of us know by heart this part of the Serenity Prayer by Reinhold Niebuhr, or, at least, we are familiar with it.  But did you know there is more to the prayer?  The rest goes like this...

                                 Living one day at a time, enjoying one moment at a time;

                                 accepting hardships as the pathway to peace;

taking, as He did, this sinful world as it is, not as I would have it;

                                  trusting that He will make all things right if I surrender to His will;

                                 that I may be reasonably happy in this life

                                 and supremely happy with Him forever in the next.

                                                                                                                         Amen

     One of the perks of aging for me has been finally reaching a point in my life where I can actually accept the things I cannot change, live one day at a time, enjoy one moment at a time and find peace through the hardships.  That hasn't always been the case for me.

     I have spent most of my adult life dealing with some type of chronic pain.  When you have to deal with health problems starting at an early age it is easy to become bitter or resentful; envious of those who can do whatever they want.  Others may have dealt with hardships differently, but for me, my journey has taken me through several stages of acceptance, or, should I say, non-acceptance.

      Stage 1 was shock.  But I'm too young!; how can this be?; I don't believe this!

     Stage 2 was denial.  Maybe if I ignore this long enough it will go away.  I'll show you I can still work all day, go to the grocery, cook supper and clean the kitchen before I go to bed. 

     Then when my body and my stamina wouldn't let me do all that I hit Stage 3 - anger!  Along with the anger came self-pity.  Why me?   My life is ruined!  Not another surgery!  When will it end!

     Once I finally worked through the anger along came Stage 4 - embarrassment.   I knew I had 3 different doctors that had told me I couldn't work a full time job anymore, but I didn't look sick.  What would people think?   Would they understand?  

     Stage 5 is what I call my "Academy Award winning" stage, or, the OK....but stage.  This is when I finally began to accept my circumstances and my limitations, but, I didn't want everyone feeling sorry for me.  This was where the acting came in.  When you live with pain for so many years you develop a pretty high threshold for pain, making it easier to hide it from others.    Problem is, you get so good at hiding it that you begin to believe it yourself and tend to overdo in order to keep up with the charade.  Bad idea.  I really pay for my mistake afterward.

     Finally, through the grace of God, I managed to reach the final Stage 6 - acceptance.  At this point, I have finally found peace in accepting and dealing realistically with my life as it is.  No longer making excuses, just knowing who I am, my strengths, my weaknesses and my limitations.  Once I was able to come to terms with that, I was able to move forward as a happy, productive person.    No matter what hand we are dealt in life we all have areas where we can shine and feel useful.   I am so blessed and have learned to be thankful for what I can do rather than regret what I can't.  I have found my peace.

Until next time...that's my view.

Kat

Written for this week's GBE2 prompt - peace.

    

 

    

LG Med Supply For Controlling Pain

This post is sponsored by the good people at LGMedSupply.com.  

All views and opinions are strictly mine.

     

      As a person who lives with chronic pain, I know there are many forms of pain control that may be prescribed by doctors, including, but not limited to, tens units and muscle stimulators.     Maybe your doctor has recommended some form of muscle stimuli as a source of relief for you.  If so, where do you find the proper equipment?     Visit LGMedSupply Online  to find just what you need.

     At www.lgmedsupply.com  you will find a great selection of  in-stock items including TENS Units, Muscle Stimulators and Ultrasound Units for chronic pain relief or rehabilitation.

     Depending on your specific needs, you may require both tens pain relief and muscle stimulation for increased muscle tone and muscle pain rehabilitation.   LGMedSupply.com has you covered with the LG-TEC Dual Combo TENS Unit and Muscle Stimulator.

     Thousands of patients worldwide have found the benefits of ordering their medical supplies from LGMedSupply.com.   Additional information can be found by checking out their online customer blog.

Not So Bad...Yet

     Today was my first day of physical therapy on my now healing broken ankle.  I must say, I approached it with much fear and trepidation.  After being immobile for almost 8 weeks I just knew that first movement was going to be excruciatingly painful.    I also knew that enduring this pain was my only chance of finally getting rid of "the boot"; that ugly, heavy, uncomfortable, and by now very smelly knee high boot that kept my ankle immobilized.

     Now don't get me wrong, I am no wimp when it comes to pain.  I pride myself in having a very high threshold of tolerance and I have the battle scars to prove it.  For years I have dealt with pain on a daily basis because of degenerative disc disease, five spine surgeries and multiple forms of arthritis.  All that aside, I still dreaded this physical therapy.

     Since I can't drive until I get "the boot" off, my niece took me to the pt office this afternoon.  That has been the toughest part of all this, being stuck at home and not able to drive.  I hate losing my independence, but that's another story.  Back to the pt office...

     First, the therapist took off "the boot" and my sock; then proceeded to evaluate the extent of the weakness and stiff muscles in my ankle.   So far not too bad.

     Then he began to massage and work out the stiffness - a little worse, but still not too bad.

     Then came the exercises...and that was...still not too bad!   I was expecting it to be much worse than it turned out to be.  It was a pleasant surprise. 

     I anticipate that as the sessions continue they will get a little more intense.  That's the necessary cost in order to regain my mobility and freedom.  No one ever said life would be easy.  But who knows, maybe I'll  be pleasantly surprised.

Until next time...that's my view.

Kat