Pain....

I was laying on a table today crying while my wonderful chiropractor assured me that when she was finished the level of pain I was experiencing would be far less, trusting her I endured what I would call torture. In an effort to distract myself I tried to fill my mind with other things....white fluffy bunnies....nope. Palm trees and sunny beaches....nope. "Oh good lord make the pain stop!" was all that was going through my brain with the occasional " Why me?". Janey completed her exercise, I sat up, wiped away the tears and very slowly stood up. Holy moly BATMAN! After a few minutes of slow movement I felt like a freakin hula dancin' queen! It was awesome. A few hours later the stiffness and discomfort she warned me about is settin' in and it got me thinking about the pain we endure in life, is it all really necessary? My answer.... yes.

Let my make a small note here. I am not talking about the level of pain you experience when you stub your toe, bang your elbow or have a hang nail. I am talking about the level of pain that alters who you are as a human being. The level of pain that which alters your relationship to the world and people around you. The pain you experience when a loved one passes away, the man you thought was the love of your life breaks your heart into a million pieces, or your back spasms and for an hour you swear you will never get off the floor or maybe not ever walk again. That is the level of pain I am talking about.

After giving it some thought, I think that it is these experiences that act as the road markers in your life. It is those experiences that have made me who I am today. For me, my life altering experiences have come in the body/ physical form. For a brief period of time it took an entire team of doctors and nurses to get my heart beating again. Have you ever come to after a very large man has been doing compressions and using paddles on your chest? Several operations to implant a pacemaker and then another couple to get it working properly? Being hooked up to more machines than you can count  and having so many drugs running through your body that you aren't certain weather the leprechaun tickling your feet is real or not? See the look on your mother's face as she turns the corner in your hospital room and in that exact moment having your view of life altered? I've been through that. Seeing my the look on my mother's face and the sheer thought of possibly never seeing it again I learnt to appreciate life, appreciate everything that it gives you, right down to the breathes you take. My second most recent one, my back spasming so bad that I could barely walk and the level of pain I experienced made me legs want to buckle right out from underneath me. This experience has taught me to not take your body for granted because if you push to hard it will push back.

I guess my point is, it doesn't matter how painful you think your experience is, it is happening for a reason. It is preparing you to be able to appreciate those really great moments when they come along. Your broken heart now, over that boy or girl, is only preparing you to REALLY appreciate that one special person when they arrive. Loosing your loved one is showing you to appreciate the gift that life truly is and to celebrate that persons life as it was. The physical pain I am experiencing in my back right now is only preparing me for the big game I am about to take on in the world to make a BIG difference. It is a reminder that to make succeed at this game I have to have a body fit to do that.

As hard as it may seem at this point in time, look at some pain your experiencing and try to see past the pain to the lesson. It may just help you move through the pain a little quicker to get to those really juicy delicious parts of life.