The mask of chronic pain
Halloween is a fun time a year! You get to be something or someone you are not for a short amount of time. It is a blast to dress up for a night for a few hours and be a super hero, a princess, movie character, or something that you hope and inspire to be in the future! But did you know for an estimated 25 million people in chronic pain days like Halloween and putting on a mask to make others happy is something that they do on a daily bases? It is not fun anymore when you are forced to feel and act differently on the outside than what you feel on the inside because you want to make those around you not suffer with you. People in chronic pain are constantly trying not to bring others down and in the process of doing so they hide many of their physical and emotional pains. Not only is this self inflicted suffering painful emotionally and physically it is self sabotage. You may think you are doing the noble thing being there for others when you can not even be there for yourself but it only compounds the pain and leads to anger and resentment towards those we love the most. Anger and resentment steams from when we are giving people what we can not give to ourselves first (giving from a empty vessel) and not expressing our true feelings and and emotions to those we love. Anger and resentment also causes more pain and suffering and emotional pain. Emotional pain causes VERY REAL physical pain as the mind and body are connected. It is a continuous loop and cycle that must be broken to live a healthy balanced life. Continue reading
