Managing the Pain

Last night I spent several hours at the hospital with my daughter as she was being tested to see what was causing her abdominal pain.  The doctor suspected her appendix, but it turned out to be an ovarian cyst.  Lots of Twitter and Facebook friends had been praying for her, so this morning I updated them, letting them know that she was going to be okay, and that now it was all about managing the pain.  As I wrote out that update, I sat back and was struck by the stark reality of how many people live every day that way – just managing the pain.

Every one of us have experienced pain as part of life.  It might be the loss of our job, our security, or our home.  Or maybe it’s the devastating loss of a loved one.  Or maybe an illness or physical limitation.  Or maybe a sense of rejection, abandonment or loneliness.  None of us are immune.  And when these things happen to us, often there really isn’t a solution.  Nothing is going to fix it.  Like my daughter, all we can do is our best to manage the pain, hoping that it will get better with time.

The question that comes to mind is, how much of our daily energy goes into managing our pains from the past?

I think that might be worth a little journal time.