All You Need is Love

Living with chronic pain transforms one's life. There isn't an aspect that isn't touched by this new entity that tears you down one cell at a time. It's like a personal hostile takeover. Rather than being the caterpillar that evolves into the butterfly, it's almost as if you're a butterfly who is reduced back to being a caterpillar. And with every year, you feel more and more knocked down by the unseen pain no doctor seems able to find or fix.

You find yourself desperately trying to keep your head above water in a medical community that lacks the knowledge and doctors to handle the suffering. It resonates in my soul, as if we're all singing the same notes but not being heard because there is no song to unite us. What are we if only one "la" in an opera of pain, only to fall on the deaf vault of medical gridlock. Pain is a force that can smother your dreams like water can a fire. To live with chronic pain, it isn't necessary to stop dreaming, but rather to train yourself to walk upon the flames.

However, hope awaits. Your spirit can soar despite the depths to which the pain has pushed you into a grave.  You are not dead until your soul stops hoping. Until then, believe in yourself, and God will be the mother's milk that will slowly feed you as you heal. If you are not religious, find something consistent and supportive in your life and hold on to it for dear life.

Love your body for its endurance and strength, especially during its darkest hours. Be grateful for the vessel that has carried you through rain and shine. Love your spirit for the courage, faith and dedication it has committed to a path that has not been easy to follow. Love life for gifting you the amazingly unique path under your footsteps. And most of all, thank God for the limitless opportunities to grow as an individual, and for the love HE wrapped you in during the times it felt you might not come through.

Thank Him even for the illness that plagues you, as without it, you wouldn’t be the infinitely strong, extraordinarily positive, extremely wise, tremendously empathetic individual you are today. You CAN change the World through your struggles. God’s angels await to accompany you as they push you forward lovingly, earnestly, hopefully, gratefully and faithfully. It’s ALL about love. May your cup runneth over.