“The power of Love
to change bodies
is legendary,
Built into folklore, common sense, and everyday experience.
Throughout history,
‘Tender loving care’
has uniformily been recognized
as a valuable element
in healing.”
Month: July 2017
Asking for Light
The Examen
The Examen is a method of reflecting upon your day with God. An Ignatian spiritual practice it’s a form of prayer that embraces gratitude and an attitude of courage and strength as well as hopeful anticipation that are born of practicing our faith.
It takes about 10-15 minutes at the close of your day and can help those living with Chronic Pain to find a positive way to end the day and too, look towards the future, towards tomorrow with some measure of positivity and a renewed sense of strength.
The 5 Steps of Examen
- Ask God for Light. We ask God to help us look at our day through His eye’s rather than just our own, to see with His Love and compassion.
- We give thanks for all the blessings in our life- no matter how small they may seem in our darker moments. There are always things to be thankful for, and we learn to invite God and the positivity of faith into our lives when we practice gratitude.
- We review our day and look for God’s presence and guidance in our day, in our life. Miracles and goodness are always there if we but get into the habit of looking for and seeing them.
- Face our shortcomings. Living with pain is hard, and we can often fall into patterns of anger, short-temperedness, withholding, fear, doubt and despair ( to name a few). But we can find courage and strength in learning to recognize our weaknesses, especially negative patterns, as once recognized we can begin the work of change. We ask for God’s forgiveness, guidance and help.
- And lastly, we look towards a new day tomorrow. We ask for God to walk with us through whatever the new day may present and relax knowing He will be there to walk with us and too, to trust in His presence in our lives.
Amen
Discoveries
Accepting the Reality of this, Our “Often Quite Challenging”, Life
“Life is constantly unpredictable, uncontrollable, and often quite challenging.
Edith Eva Eger explained that life in a concentration camp was an endless selection line where one never knew whether one would live or die. The only thing that kept a person alive was acceptance of the reality of one’s existence and the attempt to respond as best one could…
Acceptance was the final pillar of the mind, and it led us to the first pillar of the heart: forgiveness. When we accept the present, we can forgive and release the desire for a different past.”
The Healthiest Thing a Body Can Do
“You’re a little upset by your troubles,
and that’s natural enough,
but don’t let your mind run on them
any more than you can help;
Drag your thoughts away from your troubles-
by the ears,
by the heels,
or any other way,
So you can manage it;
It’s the healthiest thing a body can do;
Dwelling on your troubles is deadly, just deadly…”
~ Mark Twain
Chronic Pain Daily Reflections 
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