It seems that my pain tends to pick the holiday season to remind me of its presence. I have learned not to call these episodes relapses, but rather to call them flare ups. The connotation is that if something can flare up, it can slide back down. Whereas relapse implies defeat.
Thanksgiving requires gratitude. My inbox is filled with messages from airlines, charities, clothing stores, shoe stores -- all letting me know what they are thankful for, mostly for my patronage. So, how can I find something to be thankful about while in the middle of a relapse....oops, I mean flare up.
I recently read a blog post that contained this gem:
"...once you reach a level of healing, no matter the intensity of the flare, your body can, and will get back to that level."
This solves my gratitude dilemma. I am miserable and yes, angry, that I am having a flare up. But I am indeed grateful that I know what it's like to be without pain, for months at a stretch. And I am hopeful that I will get back to that place of ease.
I am, of course, thankful for my sweetie, Richard. He is the one who reminds me that "that was then (unrelenting pain) and this is now (mostly OK, with some flare ups
I wish you all Thanksgiving with a lot to be thankful for. And I'd be interested in hearing what brings out your gratitude.
No comments:
Post a Comment