Well, today's topic is pain.  Many people suffer with it in many forms.  Americans spend a lot of money fighting it, some $2.4 billion in nonprescription painkillers (11/07-11/08) and $13.2 billion in prescription painkillers (2006.)  We lose a lot of productivity because of pain; $100 billion a year in lost income, lost productivity, and medical expenses.  Tens of millions of people suffer with chronic back pain, neck pain, and headaches every year.

Pain is definitely a problem, but I'm here to tell you that you would have much bigger problems without it.  By that I mean that if your body could not signal pain to you it would be very problematic indeed.  You wouldn't remove your hand from the burning fire, you wouldn't know when your feet are in shoes that don't fit, you might not even know to blink.  Pain serves a very important function:  it gets our attention!  In these times, when Americans eat poorly, rest poorly, overwork and overstress pain is more important than ever. 

Sometimes I meet clients who think I'm off-base when I start asking them questions about what they do all day.  You see, when someone comes to me and they have pain in their wrists, for example, I know this is not normal.  It is usually a product of something the person is doing or not doing.  Clients who think I'm off-base actually expect their bodies to sit at computers all day, sometimes for very long days of more than 8 hours even, and not have any pain problems.  Your body was never designed to sit in a fairly immobile position for long stretches of time, much less a whole day or longer.  It can do it, sure.  It can even do it for some days in a row if you require it perhaps, but there will come a day when it starts to let you know that its design doesn't support this kind of demand.  Not without some help and consideration for the needs of the body.

A good example of our society gone awry is the person in the above situation:  working long computer hours, not paying attention to the needs of the body AND THEN taking some pain medication to turn off or quiet the pain signals the body is sending!  So now the person's body is in the same bad situation without a way to improve it and it has some additional chemicals to clean out of the system.  Wow.  What a prescription for disaster. 

When a person is experiencing persistent pain it is a good idea to find out why and then make some changes that solve the need of the body.  This is the way to turn off pain.  Your body is doing the best it can under the trying circumstances in which you are putting it.  Don't make this a battle with your body or your pain.  Find out the missing need and fill it.  The pain will go away as a byproduct.  Are you working long hours at a computer?  Are you working hours that are too long period?  Are you doing anything repetitively for long stretches of time?  Are you under a lot of stress?  Are you feeding and watering yourself well?  Do you get exercise?  Are you having any fun?  How are you sleeping?

The body has many needs.  The trick is finding the balance between the demands you place on it and how well you fill its needs.  Your long-term health is worth some attention before your body has to become super-sick to get your attention.  It's like my dad says when you are in a hurry and driving fast, "You'll have lots of time when you have an accident.  Time to wait for the cops, time to call the insurance company, time to get estimates for repairs and then the repairs themselves, time at the hospital/doctor, etc."  The same thing applies to your body.  Keep living fast and hard and you'll have to take time for the repairs later, the surgeries and rehabilitation (oh yeah, remember a surgery doesn't instantly fix any problem,) the heart disease, diabetes, and cancer.

Now is the time to evaluate that balance between the needs of the body and the demands you place on it.  Uncover the real reason for your pain and you will more easily solve it for good. 

For a great read check out "The Gift of Pain" by Paul Brand and Philip Yancey.

Statistics above from USA Weekend 3/20-22, 2009.

Ancient Wisdom: 

• 8 hours work
• 8 hours play
• 8 hours rest

Makes a balanced day!