Pain doesn’t have a silver lining. \u00a0We can paint a picture of it as noble, empowering or as an otherwise teachable moment. \u00a0 The reality is pain is simply painful. \u00a0And the concept of chronic pain can be so overwhelming that most of us discount what it must be like to the point we look insensitive to another person’s experience. \u00a0 So overwhelming that we quickly go into a tailspin of What If<\/em> each time we get a bad headache, hip strain, shoulder sprain or rib head out of whack. \u00a0Because we worry as we grow older … what if this time my body never heals? \u00a0What if I will be forever sentenced to life in pain?<\/p>\n Pain scares us. \u00a0Not only in our self … but in those we love. \u00a0And while we \u00a0may be able to quantify our own pain level … we are at a loss to fully understand another sentient beings pain. \u00a0Perhaps he puts on a brave front. Maybe she whines … subsequently we discount her discomfort. \u00a0We might perceive our own pain as greater or less than someone else based on only glimpses of perceived reaction and vague responses.<\/p>\n But in truth there is no measure of pain. \u00a0No scale we can use to truly know or recognize another person’s experience. And sometimes even our own pain can be so devastating that we can not quantify our own experience.\u00a0There is no barometer or thermostat \u00a0to help guide us in any moment to see the level of another person’s pain.<\/p>\n
![\"telescopeCartoon\"](\"http:\/\/www.coolkarma.com\/dharma\/wp-content\/uploads\/telescopeCartoon-300x169.jpg\")
<\/a>I live with pain. \u00a0My own and the pain in those that live with me. \u00a0Each of us dance in the darkness with our illness or injury trying hard not to step on each others boogie shoes. \u00a0 A joke one day might seem like a dig on a difficult mourning. \u00a0 All we can do is set our sites on compassion and empathy and realize even if we don’t SEE the moon and the stars we can be certain they are there. \u00a0Night after Day after Night … ever present pain.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"