Pushing Through the Pain

Y’know, I really, truly, honestly miss being painfree.

Why?

Because Pain!  Argh!  Massive ickness. It shows up like that neighbor who borrows sugar but never returns the cup (or replaces the sugar, for that matter). Pain is loud, messy, and impossible to ignore.

But here’s the thingee – I do not quit. Not me. Not ever.  Even if I do now take centuries at what used to take hours.  🙁

Sure, I feel like a squashed pancake some mornings. My joints creak like an old rocking chair. My brain says, “Hey, let’s just binge reruns and sulk.”

But gnope… because I know if I stop every time pain winks at me, I will never get anywhere. Progress would wave goodbye, hop on a bus, and go live with someone less stubborn.

That’s not good for my family at all.

So what do I do? Teeny, tiny moves.  I’ll onePlus myself;  I just do *one* thing that (ideally) gets me into the process of moving forward!  See, that’s the secret – that first dominio!

Sure, it is small. It looks harmless. But give it a nudge, and suddenly the whole row of dominoes of production starts falling.

And you know what that is?  Momentum! Glorious, sneaky momentum!

When pain gets bossy – and oh boy, it does – I choose to curl up in a ball until I can get myself OUT of said ball of self-protection.   Why?  Mainly because my Inner Self can feel that at least hey, I acknowledged my current situation!

That enables me to move forward (I’m big on self-validation, see).

Remember, pain loves chaos!  It sets up camp in the destroyed remnants of my goals and cackles with hysteria.

But routines?  Routines are my personal “keep out” signs. They ground me when I am in a groundable mode and not bouncing off the walls waiting for calmness, peace and tranquility.

Even when I cannot stick to them perfectly, they remind me who is in charge.

Spoiler alert: it’s NOT the pain.  No way, no how.

And humor!

Oh my flapping flibbletoes, humor is my secret weapon. Pain expects me to moan like a sad accordion. Instead, I laugh… at myself!  At the situation!  At how ridiculous it feels to hobble across the room like a zombie auditioning for a low-budget horror flick.

I giggle. Pain sulks. Victory, be mine!

Why else do I push? Welp, because my “why” is bigger than my “ow.” There are

• People I love.
• Projects I refuse to abandon.
• Mooses I need to wrassle.

And that future version of me who will one day say, “Thanks, past me, for not chickening out.”  Pain whispers, “It is pointless, it is….. your…. desssssstiny.” I yell back, “I am a Jedi!  Like my father before me!”

(Spoiler, okay, I’m an entrepreneur like he was, but the point remains)

Now – do I ignore pain? Gnope! I am not strapping on shiny armor and pretending I am the person after whom Wonder Woman was patterned. And that means:

I rest when I must. I listen when my body says “time out.” But I know the difference between true rest and sneaky avoidance (and yep, sometimes I fail there, too).

Pain lies. And lies and lies and lies and lies. It tries to convince me that stopping equals safety.

Usually, stopping just equals, well, being stuck.  But here’s the important thing here – even when “stuck,” you can choose to:

Honor your grief, pain, sadness, stuckness, and then create a huuuuge mountain in your mind.

(Trust me, I’m going somewhere with this).  Walk up that mountain (along with that mysterious suitcase that just appeared), get to the top, stuff all that mental EVERYTHING into said suitcase, and lob that sucker as far as you can into the distance.

Sure, it’s you allowing your mind to actually figuratively *do something* with that pain.  And that doing?

It can help immeasurably.

But what happens when pain bites harder than usual?

I still show up (by staying in bed on my laptop, mind you). Maybe limping. Maybe slower than a tortoise on vacation. But I show up. Because consistency is what eventually smacks pain upside the head.

My time might not not be long as I’m recovering but hey.  It’s a PlusOne.  It’s something that indicates you accomplished *something* no matter what.

But that’s really not that important at all here – what’s really important is focusing upon the most important person at this moment.

YOU!

So let me tell you this: you *can* do it too.

Stumble, wobble, crawl if you must.

Just do not give up!

Pain may shout louder, but our persistence, well.  Our persistance drowns out that noise with our own silent belief.

And in my world, that is how we all can keep winning.

Much good wishes to you if you’re going thru hard times!  Never forget – the sun will always rise another day.  Be gentle with your and operate to the best of your ability because…

… as you recover, your ability to create greatness will arise too.

Enjoy!