To begin

I wasn't going to start this blog until the first day of the rest of my life...that was supposed to be after my last day of work. I jumped the gun by about a month. So here I am, with my catchy title, I suppose I should say something important, profound, earth shaking even. But not today.

Here's my comment for today; "Chronic Joy", what kind of a title is that, are you CRAZY?

Crazy is a relative term and you would be too if you had just spent the last month in various stages of great physical discomfort. Sleeping in a chair instead of a bed, and not eating much. This is about finding the joy, the humor and the joie de vive in the most ridiculous moments of a life.

Crazy would be what any 'normal' person would think is strange because they've not had the opportunity to surf the edge of normal and to see what' s out beyond the safe zone. So here goes nothing, diving in deep now. Once you get past being a victim of pain, you have to ask yourself, "why". Why would any one put themselves through it. Why would any God/Creator/Grandfather/Goddess etc. want someone to suffer? Bottomline, I don't think they would. But still we do...suffer. More on that in another blog...

So I'm on the journey and there are good days and bad days. Today was not so good. But here's what I re-learned today, that I can laugh. That there is sun outside and it is beautiful. That there are words that I can read that lift me out of my difficulties and there are words I can share that lift others out of thiers. It may seem trivial to some, but moments like these are full of personal power when we mine them for thier gifts. What is it that I'm skipping over every time I whine about my situation? How many times am I going to complain before I hear myself and do something, anything to change it?

For me, my chronic pain is a voice that I pay attention to...but choose to ignore. Sound familiar? Returning incessantly to remind me that I'm still in the same place I was before, I misunderstand the message. I can see that now, but not all the time. But there is a deeper message, I know that to be true. My quest is to discover the message encrypted in pain and discomfort, and see if I can hear it. If any of this rings true to you, then please share your thoughts. They are great medicine. Thank you.