Monday, October 18, 2021

A Pocket Full Of Change For Managing Pain This Fall

 


Not every day presents a crisis of earth-shattering magnitude. However, those of us who experience chronic pain do have challenges to overcome on a regular basis making it important to be aware of system breakdown predictors. Factors apparent in a total system breakdown include a loss of our physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual safety net (the four-seated teeter-totter we discuss in this series of books). If we are aware that mounting daily stressors are precursors to a crisis, can we be better prepared should a crisis occur?
 
Symptoms that risks are mounting:
 
  • We become short-tempered.
  • We don't feel rested for several days in a row.
  • We have more difficulty than usual concentrating.
  • We feel overwhelmed and without resources.
  • Our pain is not being managed adequately.
  • We struggle with tasks that we normally manage well.
 
What can we do when we find a consistent pattern that could be leading up to a coping failure? We can:
 
  • Delay chores or break them down into segments.
  • Approach each day individually and break it down by each hour if necessary.
  • Summon help from support system members or healthcare providers.
  • Give ourselves permission to rest.
  • Change what we can, and let the rest go.
  • Accept that some days doing the minimum allows us to charge our battery and prevent a total breakdown later.
  • Focus on our successes.
 
Preparedness Is the Next Best Thing to an Apple Pie, Day Three, Broken Body, Wounded Spirit: Balancing the See-Saw of Chronic Pain, Fall Devotions by Celeste Cooper RN and Jeff Miller, PhD. Read the reviews on Amazon here.
 
An effective tool for combating the effects of stress is positive thinking.  So when my stress meter is about to blow mercury into the universe, I open my tool kit.
 
  • Say no to negativity.
  • See opportunity in adversity
  • Say, “I will.”
  • Do a kindness.
  • Create a positive word list.
  • Imagine positive energy.
  • Have a positive dialogue with my body.
  • Write an affirmation.
  • Write an “I am” or “I like” poem or phrase.
 
From my private collection...

The Promise of Like ©
 
I like camping, picnics, mountains with streams,
Invading my space and into my dreams,
Loony family, self, friends, and birds,
Even failing to speak with words.
 
Fortune to learn, watching children at play,
Scenery, lakes that reflect on the day,
Cakes, spirituality, flowers, a good book,
And cactus that winks with a funny look.
 
Mixed sun, rain, fall, a cloud that churns,
Laughter, antiques, Hummel’s and urns,
Gentle music, dogs, sea horses and cats,
Wildlife inspires me, even the bats.
 
I like promise and hope, flowers I like.
I like beginnings and endings, I just like.
 
Written by Celeste Cooper, author (Colorado, 2011). I wrote this poem from a random list of things I like.

Find more tips that are helpful in our Broken Body, Wounded Spirit: Balancing the See-Saw of Chronic Pain series and Integrative Therapies for Fibromyalgia, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, and Myofascial Pain: The Mind-body Connection available at https://www.amazon.com/Celeste-Cooper/e/B002X2IZYG
 
 In healing
Think adversity?-See opportunity!

The Pained Ink Slayer



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