The Funny Side of PAIN!

As each day dawns and I struggle to begin my daily fight with PAIN, I  never see anything funny about PAIN. Words that  describe Pain–throbbing, aching, hurting, burning–NONE of those words sound funny and when you are in the midst of fighting back at Pain, LAUGHTER is not in the picture.

But Pain last week gave me a front row seat in viewing how it can be FUNNY. I've recently started having a lot of DENTAL work done and nobody enjoys visiting that office. I had my first of many teeth worked on and left with the usual look–swollen face, and some minor drooling. But I didn't realize the facial PAIN that was about to arrive on my doorstep. My dear husband took me on a quick trip to the grocery store, figuring ALL was okay with me.


Little did he know, nothing was right with me–my face hurt, Pain medication had kicked in and I  seemed to be floating around the store, looking at nothing. Then suddenly I stopped in my tracks!

There sat my grocery basket my PURSE, in plain view for anybody to take! How could I have been so forgetful–oh yes, I had just come from the DENTIST! Let's face it–a woman's PURSE is our prized possession. I feared somebody had already been there, grabbed my wallet, scooted around the store and was using all our credit cards. I could not get the purse unzipped FAST enough, rushing to PULL  the wallet out. Then a COLD feeling rushed over me, like someone was telling me,"You are in the WRONG place." Then a deeper sense of dread set in as it hit me...somebody was WATCHING ME.

Oh no, how in the world was I going to get out of this? I whirled around to find a woman standing with hands on hips, glaring at me like she was seeing a common thief! All I could do was grab at my face, drop the wallet, and rattle off, "I am so sorry! See? My FACE is swollen, and I just came from the Dentist. I thought your purse was MINE. Oh, I would NEVER do anything like this! See how BAD my face looks? don't you think?" As my pitiful pleading went on, my voice got louder and a crowd was gathering to watch me, the lady with a swollen face, drool sliding and pleading her way out of a BAD situation! Then it got worse...I told the lady, "I made this mistake because our Purses BOTH look the same." While I was trying to SHOW her my Purse, it dawned on me I was showing her my PURSE that was hanging over my shoulder, EXACTLY where it should be! 

This is where the Funny side of Pain showed up because it was clear how stupid I looked. Because at that moment, a grin began to spread across the lady's face and she laughed. So did crowd as I stood there, holding my swollen face and wishing there was some place to hide! She told me there was no problem and told me that perhaps after my NEXT dental visit, it might be a good idea to just stay home and NOT go shopping! I agreed and left to hunt my husband down so we could get OUT of the store fast before the sweet lady changed her mind.

As the day wore on and I rested with an ice pack on my face, the events of the day played back in my mind. Then it hit me...the STORE event was my moment of real JOY. But it sure did not  FEEL like JOY when it was happening! Without a doubt, it would have been one of the WORST MUG SHOTS EVER. My face would not allow me to have a good laugh, but there was a real sense of humor and Joy in my heart! 

So if you are at the grocery store one day and see a strange lady with a swollen face reaching for the WRONG purse, just figure I forgot to stay at HOME after Dental Work! But always remember to keep fighting back each day at Pain and realize that JOY can come in ways you never expected!