INNER STRENGTH â—½ YOU
Free From Pain
by Michelle Wyatt
How do you deal with pain you can’t see the source of?
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What do you do with pain you can see the source of, but it still doesn’t seem fixable?
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Push through the pain.
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Deal with the pain.
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Distract myself from the pain.
Those are answers I’ve heard to those questions. It's not that simple, though. Minimizing the pain doesn't make it go away faster. It actually makes it last longer.
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I don’t like to talk about the physical pain I experience on different levels every day; but the truth is, the pain has caught up with me. Whether that has happened to you or not, I have learned that it takes great inner strength and courage to admit that.
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I was diagnosed with juvenile rheumatoid arthritis when I was only 1 ½ years old. It started with a swollen ankle. I am now 49 years old and within the last two years, certain joints that have never been affected are now rebelling. I have also had very limited range of motion with my wrists. I have never been able to put my hands down on the floor, bed, couch, etc. to get up and down like most people do. I have always used my knuckles instead.
It just is what it is.
That’s been my go-to saying for most of my life. I’m now reaching in to inner strength I haven’t had to use before, to accept this new phase of my life.
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In addition to my wrists, the range of motion in my knees also changes and my knuckles hurt. On my not - feeling - confident days, as I say, I more or less lean on my elbow/forearm to get on to bed. However, my elbow hurts now, and this is my new pain. I may not be able to see the pain, but I do know the source. The lack of range of motion is visible if I show people; otherwise, they don’t know. My wrists look different but do people wonder if they hurt? I don’t know. Recently, one person asked. The answer is usually yes or at least sometimes.
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We can ignore pain only so long, before it forces us to face it. Today I hurt so badly! It was all over the inside of my body, not just one joint. That kind of pain screams, “I’ve got to get help now, cry, rest, and/or a version of all three.” I did exactly that. I reached out to a friend. I cried on the phone with her. Then, I took a nap. She also encouraged me to let the doctor know about the severity of my new elbow pain. It may have to wait until physical therapy kicks in; but even then, I don’t know what is going to help. Regardless, I need to step up and use inner strength to say, “This has really been hurting and I’m frustrated.”
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Not facing pain alone is important.
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Support is fuel for the amount of inner strength we have.
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Whether it’s physical, mental, or emotional pain that we can or can’t see the source of, it takes courage to face it. It takes inner strength to acknowledge it and get support for it. And if anyone says, “Deal with it,” remember, that is their way of saying, “I don’t know what to say/how to support you right now.” At the end of the day, pain is a form of communication. Listen to what it’s telling you.
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Not sure what to do about your pain? Give it up to God. I say these things as a reminder to myself, as well. I certainly don’t have all the answers and I’ve been faced with pain my whole life. What is one thing I do know? We all experience pain – inner and outward – at some point in our life. How we handle it will be different for everyone. Over time, we figure out what works and doesn’t work.
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We just might find ourselves going back to our old ways, kind of like I did this week, and not taking enough time to acknowledge our physical pain. I was focused on my emotional pain. The two are related, by the way, and I hope to write about that soon…
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I have faith in you! If I can do it, so can you!