Do I allow pain to control me?

As I was making my "To Do List" today, I found myself crossing off items—not because they were accomplished, rather, because I was having a "bad" pain day. Do I allow pain to control my life? Does allowing my pain to control me a good thing?

Limiting my activities so that the pain remains at a tolerable level isn't necessarily a bad thing. On the other hand, I can't let pain control me to the point that I don't do anything. If I do nothing, I'm in pain. And anything I do increases my pain. The trick is to find the balance of doing things and keeping the pain in a tolerable level.

I also think sometimes we have to push beyond our normal activities to see if we can tolerate more. Often we become comfortable at one level and don't challenge or push ourselves to our limits. Think of a marathon runner. They know they can run 5, 10, 15 miles. But 26 miles and 385 yards—that's a distance that pushes many professional runners. Yet, many are able to accomplish that task.

Back to my question, "do I allow pain to control me?" I'd have to answer 'yes, I do'. However, I hope that I don't allow pain to be the deciding factor. Otherwise, I would miss many blessings. I have to make sure that pain is only ONE of the factors in if I do something. I don't want to miss adventures because I allowed pain to have the final say.

As I go about each day, I need to monitor my pain, but not focus on it. My focus needs to be on the positive aspects of the day and what God is doing in my life.

The more positive my day,

the more I can do, and

the less pain controls my life!