Daily Gratitude: How often do we wish things were easier and that there weren’t so many obstacles? Sure that would make life easier – at least for a time being. But have you ever taken the time to review your life, listing the things you’ve had to overcome (you can call them obstacles or adversifies or challenges or whatever you want to label them). Create a timeline of these things and go back to list what the “problem/trouble” was. Then take some time with each to see what it took to get past them. At this early point in the exercise you’re just looking at each event separately. When you’ve done this, now it’s time to look and see if any of the old ones were connected. Did one choice give you “power” or skills that you implemented later on with another obstacle? Look for and list trends in meeting these things head on. Do you see a pattern? This can be a pattern involving new skills or perhaps old escape mechanisms where you find new ways each time to run away. Don’t put yourself down if you identify any trends. Just decide what you need to do about. What skills do you know you have that have been honed over the years? List them on one side of a piece of paper and then list your escape tactics on the other. Now you get to choose which skills you want to use or work to improve. Let us know if this helps you spot things or trends and if it helped.
Daily Gratitude: You can imagine how this struck me when I saw it on Pam’s Facebook page. Why? Because I love to walk. And many of my thoughts and ideas have become more defined while walking. I’m slow and unless I’m in a race it doesn’t bother me. Why? Because I see so much and can marvel at nature. The other day I saw the most astounding thing I’d seen in a long time. Don’t get excited- I’m sure you’ll think “geez, you need to get a life Terrie!” I had just been to the botanical gardens with a friend who is brilliant (not just with flowers and plants but in life). She was telling me this and that and part of my brain was trying to remember what she was saying but another part was trying to find the perfect photo. When I got home I decided to go for a long walk (for me right now 7 miles is long) so I headed out on our greenway path. I passed a section that had lots of white flowers blooming. It was beautiful and I don’t remember that many of them being “out” at one time. The next morning I had to walk early and as I passed the same section they appeared to have died. I was bummed out that they had only lasted one day (notice the self-centered aspect here – I had only been back out on that trail for one day so I automatically thought the flowers were only blooming that day. They might have been out for a week for all I knew). I continued on and on my way back 2 hours later they were all blooming AGAIN. wow. “Had new ones shown up or were these the same ones that had maybe hunkered down for the night only to show back up in the sunlight the next day?” I had never noticed this before – my awareness hadn’t been honed in on that phenomenon. why did I notice it then? Because my brain (specifically my RAS, reticular activating system) had been stimulated. I bet you’re yawning right now wondering what that has to do with anything. It has to do with priming the pump. If you have an issue (not necessarily a problem but it can be; or it can be an idea rolling around in your head), think about it for a few minutes before you leave for your walk. This will get the RAS going and you’ll be surprised at what will surface during your walk. Take the time to prime the pump just like I did (unknowingly) by going to the botanical gardens before my walk. See what issues you can solve and what ideas you can come up with. Let us know.
Daily Gratitude: Another post on “pain”. One reason people have trouble embracing the neuroplastic or mind- body approach and understanding of chronic pain is that doctors are kind of “caught in the middle”. It goes way back. Patients want “answers” but they also want fixes – quick fixes. Usually a pill or a shot or even surgery to help them feel and get better – yesterday! Instant gratification at its finest. So, doctors everything they can to find an answer for you. They do lab and xray and fancy studies. They try to find anything they can to figure out what’s wrong so you can have an answer (a diagnosis) and they can prescribe a treatment plan. The majority of patients would NOT accept a diagnosis of neural circuit (or neuroplastic) pain disorder because they would think the doctor was saying it was “all in their head”. As an aside, I feel sorry for the poor old brain because it is the cause of all pain (even when there is some structural abnormality involved, the pain sensation is generated by the brain). It’s not the brain’s fault it happens to reside inside the skull – aka the head. Anyway, what people who specialize in neuroplastic pain medicine have discovered is that in back pain, for example, the presence of abnormal X-ray findings does NOT automatically correlate with someone’s pain. I’ve seen many a person with totally normal radiological studies that were completely incapacitated by their back pain. And then I’ve seen the most horrible looking back X-rays in an infantry soldier working full time carrying over 50-100 pounds on his back. My own recent experience cemented that for me. As part of the evaluation for my fractured clavicle they got X-rays of my shoulder. This is what the report says: “End-stage glenohumeral (shoulder) osteoarthritis”. So I looked up what this meant: “final phase of a progressive joint disease where the cartilage in the shoulder joint has worn away, causing bones to rub directly against each other. This leads to severe pain, significant loss of movement and function, and a grinding or clicking sensation.” So what you’re asking? Well I may have some clicking at times but I have great use of my shoulder (well at least I did before this injury and intend to after it’s healed too). I do weight training and have no problems with my daily activities. This is a perfect example of how the findings don’t always correlate with your symptoms. You have to look beyond the obvious, digging deeper into the well – the well of the mind! If you do, you’ll have a much better chance of recovering than if you just stick to X-ray or lab findings. Don’t blame your doctor though. Patients don’t accept this so they have learned to look for something everyone will believe
