Thankful for pain?

I was going to start by saying I've lived in a lot of physical pain this last year, but then I had to stop myself.  Yes, I've lived with a lot of pain for me this last year, but does it really compare to the physical pain some people live with their whole life!!

I've dealt with knee pain off and on since I was 13, but that didn't necessarily stop me!  I played softball, ran 5Ks, lifted weights, took all the phys ed classes I could in college (I was a phys ed major, so I had to, but was glad to just the same!).  So while from time to time my knees have slowed me down, they never stopped me.

Last summer, I overworked my back to the point of injury.  It was a silly injury, I just should have stopped when it was tired/hurting, but I didn't...So I ended up bent in half unable to straighten myself without the help of a hour long massage.  I walked out standing straight, but the massage didn't cure me.

A year later I'm still unable to exercise to the extent that I was before hurting my back, but I am making progress.  Through the year, as I babied my back, I squatted a lot, which of course in turn got my knees to hurting again!  So with a little help from the physical therapist, both are doing a lot better.  I'm getting there.

So Monday morning, I wake up with a severe crick in the neck.  I couldn't look up or to the right....I took a muscle relaxer that made me near worthless for the day.  By the afternoon, I'm waking up a bit and can move a bit better, but still limited.  Even though my back and knees were feeling better, this has set me back to living a day in pain and boy did that make me irritable!!

My point in all this piggy-backs on my last post of being thankful...joyful.  I have a hard time doing either when I'm in physical pain.  I'm an active, independent person and I don't like being in a place where I can't move!  I've only dealt with this really for the last year, but I have to wonder what life is like for someone who lives in chronic pain (which I pray to God, this wont' be!!).  I'm grumpy, impatient, irritable and just no fun to be around when I'm hurting.  Be thankful in all circumstances...where's my joy here, believe me, I'm not feeling it!

So I need to be thankful in this circumstance.  I'm thankful that I can go for a walk today.  I'm thankful I'm not dependent on someone else to help me make any and every move.  I'm thankful I don't spend my days in bed and a good day is when I move from my bed to the couch.  Things could be sooooo much worse.  Today, I choose to be thankful that my pain truly is minimal!

In my pain, I talk to God more too...maybe I'm on to something here!