It refers to both physical and emotional pain. The emotional pain is often worse at this time of year. “Everyone else is happy. Why can’t I be happy?” I know quite a few people who are experiencing their first Christmas without a loved one. It’s there like an open wound. And every thought or comment from another is like drinking iced coffee when you have a bad tooth. Or even just breathing in cold air.

There isn’t much you can do but endure it. But there may be messages in that pain that we need to hear. We can’t hear them if we’re bustling about though, trying to make it all go away.

I’ve been less than healthy for the past month or so – one thing or another. But it’s forced me to slow down and reevaluate what I’m doing and what I want to do. It’s also given me the opportunity to just work on my book since I felt too cruddy to do anything else. That’s something I’ve never done before. I would have fought it constantly – and not gotten anything done. I could have complained but I would have just been spinning my wheels. I could have been upset that I wasn’t walking and that would put me behind in training and I wouldn’t do well in this upcoming race.

But all of that speculation and disdain for my circumstances would only have gotten me in a tizzy and I wouldn’t have accomplished anything.

See if you can sit with your pain. Thank if for bringing you it’s message and ask for guidance on how best to receive the message. Can you comfort your pain? Can you think of it as a little child seemingly upset because something isn’t going right in its world? What would you do to help comfort that child? Can you address your pain in that way?

Can you describe its characteristics? What does it look like? Where is it? What emotions is it generating? Are you willing to experience those emotions? Or do you just want to shove everything in the pantry closet and get it out is the way? Maybe there’s no more room in your pantry. I know there isn’t in mine. This year has been about clearing out that pantry and using it for what it’s intended for, not to shove my emotions out of the way.

There’s no perfect answer here and it’s not easy at all. But can you at least try to ask some of these questions and see what comes up?