No Pain, No Problems

No Pain, No Problems

One of my favorite words these days is rejuvenation. It means to make feel young again. I think of cool water on a hot day, or a refreshing breeze, or a wonderful, cracking stretch. I think of running for the joy of it, and giant smiles. I think of flowering meadows, and singing birds and sparkly sunshine.

On the other hand, I will tell you that I have little interest in feeling like I did when I was young. Ow. Being young for me was no picnic, I tells ya. I ached all over most of the time, crashing headaches most of the time. I had insomnia, anxiety, and I was always cold. I caught everything; colds, flu, random viruses. I got bronchitis and pneumonia like nobody’s business.

Not only that, but I was almost completely focused on my pain. I suppose that should really read, My Pain. It was certainly the focus of my day. I thought about it all the time. I worried about how bad it would get, how bad it was. I wondered what it would stop me from doing. I wondered how it would ruin my life this week. Poor me.

Now, let me say right up front, I am not without intense sensation from time to time. However, in the same way that I decided I would no longer have problems, I decided I would no longer have pain. This is a language thing, not a sensation thing.

When we decide that we choose happiness, we have to give up some stuff. We have to give up having problems and crises, having pain, worry, anxiety, guilty, and so on.

Giving up those things doesn’t mean the same stuff doesn’t happen.

That’s important.

What it means is that we reframe it.

When I wanted to stop having problems, crises, and issues, I started looking for new language. What else could I say to describe whatever was going on? Now I have topics. For me, that is a really neutral word. I have a car topic right now. A topic is something I can pay attention to or not, it has no emotional weight. The car broke down. I was safe. I have an auto club to call, I can choose to be cheery. Car got dropped off at shop near my home, all was well, no big deal.

Plus, I felt light for being cheery. Plus, I felt proud of me for choosing light. Plus, I felt grown up for staying calm. Plus, I was happy that the guys from the car club who helped me appreciated that I was cheery. Oh, and there’s more, but you get it. I felt great.

When I decided to stop having pain, I did the same thing. I looked for words that were emotionally neutral. I settled on discomfort and sensation. When I wake up in the morning, I have sensations, and after I do some yoga, they go away. When I dislocated and cracked my shoulder, I had discomfort, often at an 8 or 9, but still simply discomfort.

When I call it pain, the sensations seems to radiate through my body, my chest caves in a bit. I start to feel heavy and dark, and scared all the way through my body. When I call it discomfort, the sensation stays put, and I can stay upbeat.

So I focus on what rejuvenates me; Qigong, kungfu, yoga, walking, napping, wholesome food, time with friends and loved ones, sleep, a day every so often of being alone, the occasional crazy thing.

How have I changed from suffering to enjoying being alive in my body?

(c) Pam Guthrie 2013 all rights reserved 10072013