Living with Pain as we Age~~~

I recall telling my Dad "This Getting Older Thing is not Easy"  hearing his fast response "Well Sister, It certainly beats the Alternative!"  He was right-I would rather be experiencing the Aging signals instead of "Pushing up Daises" his choice of words to help me grasp the Joy of being Alive-and taking the good with the bad as we Age.

We move along through life, forgetting about the Aging until  Reminders start arriving~~ Arthritis, Gout,  and Vision Changes-all get our attention!  The Aging Process got my attention while I watched my Husband struggle to read a Menu-first there would be the"Stretch the Arm out-Paper in Hand-Now Read."  My patience grew thin watching this process done by my husband and finally I told him one night

  "Why don't you just put The Menu on the floor-I bet you can read the words then!"

Lets just say we both got my message as the Vision Doctor saw both of us, letting us know the time had arrived for New Glasses and suddenly-the world seemed to have a very different look!

Some Aging Reminders can be slowly adjusted to, but if Chronic Pain is around, suddenly a morning climb out of bed will arrive and it hits-Did I suddenly get old overnight?  Sadly, the answer is simple-when living with Chronic Pain, there will be moments that cause us to think- "Lord, How in the World am I going to Live with this much Pain?"  I  have spoken these words, asking that question and knowing my answer "Martha, you fell out of a Tree-and Landed on your Butt!"  The reminder stings-hard.

We are all unique Individuals-each one will find Coping Methods in dealing with Pain and Aging.  For me, all I can do is take it one simple day at a time. I am learning to be more accepting of my limitations-but its never easy to do, so I guess you could say I will be a continual Work in Progress. Some days I can push the Pain far away from my Body-giving me enough space to draw a breath and relax~~but when the Bad days come, and believe me, they Do Come-it feels as if I am constantly Pulling/Pushing my body, as I fight back against this wicked enemy called Chronic Pain.  

Aging does bring many changes our way-living with Pain only adds to the changes, but I am living proof that it can be done!  You can still find a second of Joy in each day-all you have to do is Look around!

God be with everyone who must fight the Pain battle-please know I am with you in prayer~

martha