I watched as my four year old grandson and his two year old sister giggled while running in circles. The energy that swirled around them electrified their eagerness to see who could run the fastest and last the longest before they collided and fell to the floor in continued laughter. Immediately they would jump to their feet and begin the game all over again.
I laughed as I watched their escapades. How simple life is for a child because they know what it is like to live moment by moment. They never think about much more than what they are doing now. Unlike adults who are caught up in years of planning and orchestrating their lives from schools, jobs, houses, bills, vacations, insurance, retirement and of course what new thing they are going to need in order to make their lives easier.
My frolicking grandchildren brought memories of my own carefree childhood, yet I didn't desire to go backwards in time, but I did want the freedom to think as they were thinking. I wanted to look at my own life moment by moment and not allow the pressure of thinking years in my future to keep me from Praising God for what I have now!
Many people are so caught up in planning that when a tragedy happens and they are put in unexpected financial stress, they panic. Unable to see how they can possibly overcome a natural disaster or a major sickness. Unable to see how they are going to overcome a job loss or a death that requires taking a lot of time off work.
This is when we must look at our lives moment by moment. When we can only pay one bill at a time and live for that day alone. When we don't know how we are going to have the strength to survive another chemo therapy treatment or pick up the pieces after our home was destroyed by a tornado.
Devastation reveals what is in a persons heart and whether or not they do it their way or they are people of substance that reflect faith. Our belief system shows our character and gives us the ability to take whatever happens in life moment by moment. Always believing that God has our best interest in mind.
Mark 12: 41-44, "As Jesus sat near the Temple treasury, he watched the people as they dropped in a lot of money; then a poor widow came along and dropped in two little copper coins, worth about a penny. He called his disciples together and said to them, 'I tell you that this poor widow put more in the offering box than all the others. For the others put in what they had to spare of their riches; but she, poor as she is, put in all she had-she gave all she had to live on.'"
Jesus knew this woman's circumstances because His spirit told Him her financial situation. He used her selflessness as an example of what it takes to live in this world. We must have faith! We must believe in more than ourselves or we will fail the tests of life.
We are not meant to have carefree, no consequence lives. We are here to be changed into better people. People who know what it is to suffer because we have experienced the uncertainties of life. People who believe in God and conquer fear by going forward regardless of what they are facing.
So many people today limit their lives and when something bad happens they either cut the person off or they move away. Husbands and wives divorce because they don't want to work on their relationships. Mixed families created by new marriages fall apart because the other spouse does not have an unconditional love for the other person's children.
Looking back and keeping close account of each others failures destroys love and keeps couples from holding on and growing when bad things occur in life. Not having faith makes us blame God and cut our Savior off from having the ability to rescue us from life's traumas.
The poor widow had faith that God would save her. Her belief in God's help allowed her to give all she had. Jesus used her as an example of true riches. We are not wealthy because of the money we have, we are rich when faith is first and money is last.
Luke 6:47-49, "Anyone who comes to me and listens to my words and obeys them-I will show you what he is like. He is like a man who, in building his house, dug deep and laid the foundation on rock. The river flooded over and hit that house but could not shake it, because it was well built. But anyone who hears my words and does not obey them is like a man who built his house without laying a foundation; when the flood hit that house fell at once-and what a terrible crash that was!"
Life demands faith or you will not be able to stand up to the pressures surrounding tornadoes, job loss, divorce, death, or multiple disasters that destroy the lives of people. You must be able to cast your cares and stand your ground on the rock of Jesus Christ so you can continue to live!
Too many people have become ignorant of their need for faith because of all the demands the world puts on the shoulders of them. We are so self thinking that we have stopped seeing why we need faith in order for our relationships to succeed. We aren't praying and asking God to supply our daily needs. We have stopped loving because we have stopped reading our Bibles and committing scriptures of faith and love to our lives.
This is the reason we need to understand that we are in a great game of life that makes us attend life school. An education that makes us stop thinking about ourselves and makes us feel things for those around us. Tests make us grow and change either for good or bad.
Jesus' disciples asked Him to teach them to pray. The Lord's Prayer sprang to life and revealed many secrets of what a person will come up against in every day life. Understand these words and apply them Now!
Matthew 6: 9b-13, "Our Father in heaven: May your holy name be honored; may your kingdom come; may your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day the food we need. Forgive us the wrongs we have done, as we forgive the wrongs that others have done to us. Do not bring us to hard testing, but keep us safe from the Evil One."
Everything about the Lord's Prayer teaches about the Game of Life. God must be number one, so He can help us to stand up during testing. We must pray for protection from Satan so we can survive the tests of life. Read the words and think of how this prayer can make a difference in how you stand against the evils you face on a daily bases.
Many of us are worried and upset about finances and how we are going to pay the next bill. We are upset over the high cost of health care. We harbor every bad thing that we think is going to happen because we don't understand we are in a life game.
Jesus taught us how to pray. He wanted us to live our lives moment by moment. He wanted us to pray for our daily needs and no more. Our world is a battleground that constantly tries to get us to think about tomorrow and to plan our future. Jesus is opposite from the world. He tells us to pray for today.
Knowing what I was fighting against made me understand how Satan uses life to make us worry so much that we stop loving. Worry can take away our joy and keep us focused on our problems.
Watching my grandchildren play inspired me to stop thinking of when God was going to give me my next job. It filled my heart with love and let me see my need to just take life moment by moment and live my life for today!
What we perceive as “pain" is an interaction between several chemicals in the brain and spinal cord. These chemicals are called neurotransmitters. These neurotransmitters conduct nerve impulses from one nerve cell to another, and on to the brain. They do this by stimulating receptors found on the surface of nerve and brain cells, which function somewhat like gates, opening and closing to allow messages to pass from one nerve cell to the next. Many pain-relieving drugs work by acting on these receptors.
Pain can be roughly divided in to two types: Acute pain, and chronic pain. Pain is described as acute when it basically doesn’t last very long – it is usually caused by an injury, illness, or surgery, and subsides as your body heals.
Chronic pain is usually said to persist for at least 6 months after your body has healed from the illness or injury that first caused the pain in question. There are forms of chronic pain that defy diagnosis. This usually adds to the emotional lows, anger, and self esteem problems that can already arise from experiencing the chronic pain in the first place. Many patients who experience chronic pain can also find that it interferes with the day to day activities of their lives.
Up to one-third of the entire population of the United States is affected by acute or chronic pain during the course of a year. 1
Given the passage of a significant amount of time, all of these problems, compounded with anxiety, can lead to poor response to treatment, and set up a vicious cycle of unending discomfort.
You can, however, take steps to reclaim your life, and break the hold that pain can have over you!
Find, and Bond With Your Doctor
If you, like many other people, have had care from many different physicians, you may want to pick one, and stick with them. In addition to your family physician, you may want to consider also seeing a specialist, if you know what is causing your symptoms. If you don’t, you may want to consider a pain management specialist. Bear in mind that you will still need to have a primary care physician to coordinate care and manage your general health. This is especially important in avoiding harmful drug interactions or conflicts in therapy.
When you’re choosing a doctor, you’ll want to make sure that, besides being someone that you feel you can trust, they are also knowledgeable about chronic pain issues. Beyond that, they should encourage and allow you to ask questions, and even to disagree with them. You should have a positive, proactive outlook on the road ahead, and your doctor should also share that.
Tell Your Doctor Everything
Your doctor can only help you if you give him or her as much information about your pain as possible. You should explain to your doctor the nature of your pain, where it is, how bad it is, and how often it occurs. If there are triggers that cause your pain, explain them also. Also, tell your doctor if anything makes the pain better. Don’t forget to think about other, external factors that may not be readily apparent. Changes in your day-to-day schedule or even activities within the course of your day may be affecting you without your knowledge. Your doctor will want to also go over other health problems with you. Besides directly affecting your pain, they may also affect his or her choice of treatment for you. All of this will also assist in what is traditionally the first step in treating chronic pain: assessing the cause. Treatment Your doctor may prescribe various combinations of different therapies and medications to treat your pain. Generally, treatment can take the form of physical, behavioral, or occupational therapy, combined with various pain relievers, antidepressants, or anti-inflammatories. Physical therapy can include walking, biking, etc, according to your situation, while behavioral therapy can teach you other pain control methods, such as meditation. Occupational therapy involves teaching you to more safely and efficiently accomplish everyday tasks, to minimize the risk of injury. A little about drugs: There are many pain-relieving drugs being used today. Opioid drugs block pain by locking onto opioid receptors in the brain. Other drugs control pain outside the brain, such as non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs). These drugs, including aspirin, ibuprofen, and naproxen, inhibit hormones called prostaglandins, which stimulate nerves at the site of injury and cause inflammation and fever. Newer NSAIDs, including Celebrex (celecoxib) and Vioxx (rofecoxib) for rheumatoid arthritis, primarily block an enzyme called cyclooxygenase-2. Known as COX-2 inhibitors, these drugs may be less likely to cause the stomach problems associated with older NSAIDs, but their long-term effects are still being evaluated Up to one-third of the entire population of the United States is affected by acute or chronic pain during the course of a year.2
Lifestyle Changes
Lifestyle changes can be invaluable in the treatment of chronic pain. If you smoke, or drink alcohol fairly frequently, you may want to modify your behavior. Quit smoking and drinking, or at the very least, cut back drastically. A healthy diet will help not only directly, but indirectly, by reducing the strain on your cardiovascular system, and reducing stress. Using recreational drugs can also impact your health in a myriad of ways that you could not possibly foresee. Again, communication with your doctor is paramount. You and your primary care physician can map out all the things that you can do to try to reduce pain, and, if they work, you can modify your treatment accordingly. The key is to identify goals and obstacles to reducing pain, and tackling those goals and obstacles one at a time; then you can move on to the next challenge. Don’t set unrealistic goals, because this will only lead to failure and frustration. It is most important for you to take a long, hard look at your life, and how your pain has affected the way you live it. Then, take the necessary steps to “take your life back’ – to change your behavior to reflect that you will no longer allow yourself to be controlled by pain.
References
1. NIDA Research Monograph, No. 36 (1986) 2. FDA Consumer Magazine, March/April 2004. Pub No. FDA 04-1336C
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