I woke up yesterday morning —— and everything hurt. I get a day like this every now and then and I’m sure there are others that do. I don’t know why as I really haven’t done anything unusual lately. True, I am busy watching my grandson during the week and he’s moving now! Either crawling or walking with his little walking toy. I’m lucky if I can get him down for a nap, at which time Grampa grabs a few minutes too.
No the muscles just hurt yesterday. As I wrote in my book (“I’m Not Done Yet” available in book form or ebook at amazon.com), I’ve pretty much been dealing with aches and pains since the ‘90s. I don’t know about other chronic pain peeps but you kind of get used to something hurting. You know what’s “normal” pain and you know when something’s wrong or new.
You know that “pain scale” they refer to at the doctor’s office or the hospital? “On a scale of 1 to 10, how do you feel?”
Some people hate that scale. “Uhhh, I don’t know.”
My wife, the paramedic, tells me about people who say, “Fifteen! It hurts SO bad!” Then she checks and their blood pressure is normal. (A little tip here: your BP will go up if you’re in a lot of pain so maybe stick with the 1 to 10 scale.)
I think I’ve told you before that nothing ever gets a ten. I never give a ten because I won’t let the bastard win! Sorry for the language Reverends. In my crazy mind, pain is the Super Villain and I won’t let him (or her) win. I know it sounds stupid but it’s a little game I play. Whenever I say, “Nine” my wife knows I’m serious.
Alright, so where am I going with this?
This is something I’ve been trying to do, especially on days when everything hurts. Stop for a minute and count your blessings. This can even be helpful if you’re not in pain, maybe your just “blue” or down in the dumps.
One of my sons gave me a book for Christmas called “Okay Fine, I’m Grateful.” It’s a gratefulness journal where you have page after page of inspirational quotes but then room for you to write down what you are grateful for.
The book states: “ The Greater Good Science Center at UC Berkeley has made an extensive study of gratitude and is a big promoter of gratitude journals. ‘Studies have shown a range of impressive benefits to the simple act of writing down the things for which we’re grateful— benefits including better sleep, fewer symptoms of illness to more happiness.’”
I’ve found —— it works!
I’m not going to say the pain goes away but it doesn’t dominate your thoughts when you are focused (and grateful) for what you have in your life.
- My wife
- My children
- My grandson to keep me busy
- The Red Sox are back
- “Hamilton” was pretty fantastic!
Try it! You can buy the book (for which I’m getting no payment…darn it) or just make your own list. Turn your thoughts away from what’s bothering you and focus on what you’re grateful for. Count your blessings.
I don’t mean to make light of whatever you’re going through, I get it, it sucks. But if you’re looking for a break from that…try this. You just might like it.
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