 |
| Courtesy Celeste's Photography |
ACCEPTING OUR LIMITS
As people who live with chronic pain and illness, we know the
importance of identifying our limitations and learning to work within our
boundaries. These coping impositions and repositions mostly affect our physical
capabilities and our abilities to perform certain tasks. We talk about “Measuring Limits” in our book Integrative Therapies for Fibromyalgia, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome,
and Myofascial Pain: The Mind-body Connection
…Regardless of courage or decisiveness, your first task is to accurately assess your ability today. You need an objective measure for determining if this is a “terrific” or “semi-terrific” day... Every day you should spend all your available energy pennies, but not one more. One extra penny of effort today will cost a dollar tomorrow. Make daily deposits in your well-being bank... At the same time, you need to do a balancing act with your unconscious process of self-accommodation and deceit, the permission we give ourselves to loaf, stall, or nonperform. This tendency to give up prematurely, surrender to dread, to drop our own ball at the first sign of difficulty is universal. That’s right, universal. Everyone knows the decision to let the Frisbee pass without diving to try to catch it... The key point is that the one judging is also guilty
at some time.
“Who we are is more than the
body or the personality.”
Ram Dass
It is equally important to explore what we can do. In Broken Body, Wounded Spirit: Balancing theSee-Saw of Chronic Pain Spring Devotions, we call this “Optivity."
Optivity (our word for envisioning
positive thought, word, and deed) empowers us to balance the four-seated
teeter-totter we talk about throughout this series. Each seat, which makes up
our teeter-totter, represents physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual
elements of who we are as a total package, and it is based on - and inspired by - the wisdom of the Native American Medicine Wheel. Each seat should be equally
off the ground with the same weight and attention.
EXPLORING OUR PASSION
There are many ways to become full of life in thinking. We can be present in our compassion for others, be active in mindfulness, and look at things from a different perspective. These things help us broaden the boundaries of not too much, yet enough. It allows us, gives us, permission to explore our hidden talents. For instance, I learned that writing poetry allows me to immerse myself in learning new words and new ways to express something I find interesting. It gives me a different perspective that takes me to a place where I can put my pain or current health issue in the backseat. It was really fun and rewarding to write this poem.
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.
I wrote this poem from a random list of things I like and found a stirring of many passions I might not have thought of otherwise. Maybe you will try it.
In healing
Posts
