If you really, really look, you will find some positives chronic pain. It takes a while, but you will get there.
Of course, chronic pain isn’t a good thing – it causes our bodies and minds to struggle on a daily basis; it causes anger, frustration, and at times hopelessness and isolation; it causes us to change over time and become different people to who we were before the pain began.
When we change our mindset, accept that we have our chronic pain, and think about our pain differently, we can start to see things in a more optimistic way and pick out the positives, and even benefits, that chronic pain can have on our lives.
This post is dedicated to one of my bestest friends – we would never have met had it not been for our chronic pain.
Having chronic pain is a journey and it can take a long time to accept our chronic pain and get to the point of seeing the positives. Anyone can change their mindset if they really want to.
I talk about this in my gratitude posts. Being grateful for the smallest things can really change our mindset, our outlook on life, and improve our overall wellbeing. People with chronic pain often have long journeys to get a diagnosis, or take a while to learn to adapt and cope with their pain. If you start to pick out little things that make you feel happy or that you are grateful for, you soon see that all these little things add up and create more positivity in your life – a lot more than what you realise.
I learned to appreciate the morning sunlight; the way my dogs make me smile; when my partner texts me during her busy work schedule. And much much more. I write down one thing for each day and pop it in my ‘Happy Box’. Sometimes it’s something big (when I climbed the O2) and sometimes it’s something so small (buying myself some new stationery). But all these little things add up and when we make a note of them and look back and reflect, we realise there is so much to be grateful for and happy about despite having chronic pain.
New chapters in life allow us to meet new people. A new job, moving to a new town, or joining a local club or doing some volunteering. It’s the same with chronic pain. You get to meet new people at pain management groups or by joining support groups online or face-to-face. The opportunity will always be there, we just need to embrace it and be open to getting to know someone new.
A lot of people turn to crafting, art, or writing to help cope with their pain. Distraction is a good pain relief, and often seen as a mindfulness activity to help prevent dwelling on the past and worrying about the future. These hobbies can form new skills that we would never have had the opportunity to do before having chronic pain.
I’m now also developing my writing skills by working on my blog. I’ve always wanted to be a writer of some sort (one of my life-long goals is to write a book). I’m also learning lots of new skills – website creation, editing and scheduling, image design. All this has come about because I have my chronic pain.
Do you see the positives of your chronic pain?
Head to my home page to see how you can learn more to cope with and understand more about chronic pain.
Great messages here. When I step outside and go for a walk (even a short one) in the trees — I feel better without fail. And yes, I am aware that my mindset has shifted from me to something other. Life becomes beautiful.
Thank you! I love walking. It always makes me feel so much better and energised, even when I’m feeling exhausted.
I loved this post. You know I never really thought about it before, but I realize that when I have a good day I tend to appreciate it more because I know how it compares to my bad days. I try not to take them for granted anymore.