Tag Archives: distractions

I Choose to be Distracted! 13 tips to help deflect chronic pain (Pt. 2)

I Choose to be Distracted! 13 tips to help deflect chronic pain (Pt. 2)  Joining my friend, Joy Terrell, for the second part of her wonderful suggestions for helping to distract from chronic pain. If you missed the first one you can find it here! Be blessed!

Yesterday, we focused on things that you could gather ahead of time and have ready for those days when functioning is a chore all its own. Today, there are other helpful activities that do not require any physical things but are just as helpful!

Distracted

Before dismissing these, give them a try. Remember, focusing your attention away from your pain is the goal. Keep your brain busy! Don’t allow your thoughts to wander back to your pain.

Prayer or meditation can be calming and soothing.

I find guided imagery to be very effective. All it requires is your imagination. Think of a place that makes you feel happy and safe. Allow yourself to remember the sounds, smells and other attributes that make this place special. For instance, I like to transport myself to the beach. I feel the sun warming my face, feel the sand as my bare foot sinks into it, hear the seagulls squawking, feel the spray of the ocean, hear the waves, feel my hubby’s hand holding mine. You get the idea. The possibilities are limited only by you!

Controlled breathing is also a great technique. It takes concentration to slow down and control each breath. There are many apps available to help you learn to do this. I have used this when in line at the grocery store, and the pain is screaming at me. You can do this anywhere, and no one will even notice.

Here are a couple of things that may sound clichéd, but they are useful. Turn your thoughts to gratitude. Yea, I know it’s hard to think gratitude when your pain is a 10. Just do it! Think of five people you are grateful to have in your life. Think of the things they have done to make your list. Think of five blessings you are thankful for. The list could go on and on.

Another thing that sounds a little bit hard is to do something to show compassion to someone else. No one understands compassion like someone who has suffered their own share of misery. This doesn’t have to be a major production. Write a note in a card for someone who is lonely or hurting. It will make both of you feel better. Send a text that says you are thinking about and saying a prayer for someone. It doesn’t take much to brighten a day. You can’t think about yourself while caring about another person.

Doing some gentle stretching and range of motion exercises can be helpful. Just saying the word exercise can sometimes be painful! But, if you can get yourself moving a little bit, you just might feel better.

By now, you may be thinking I am crazy if I think these things will fix your pain.

Here is the bottom line, nothing short of a miracle, is going to fix your pain.

The best pain medications will take off the edge, but never make you pain free. Distractions will not fix it. However, they can get your mind off it. Experiencing pain requires you to consciously think about it. Remember, your brain can only focus on one thing at a time. None of these ideas are intended to be used 24/7. If I can distract myself from the pain for even a short time, that break gives me the ability to carry on. Maybe you are waiting for pain medication to kick in. Dwelling on how much it hurts, will make the wait seem forever. We do have a choice about the way we allow ourselves to react to chronic pain. I think I will choose to be distracted!

385665_437965479547500_1068992269_nJoy is a graduate of Purdue University School of Pharmacy. She is a licensed pharmacist, in early retirement. She is married to her favorite guy, Doug. They are “pet parents” to Kenzi, a golden doodle. Joy has served her church family as a Sunday school teacher, church secretary/treasurer, board member, and a willing helper.

 You might also like her post, Living at the Intersection of Faith and Chronic Illness, along the same subject lines. Blessings.

I Choose to be Distracted! 13 Tips to Deflect Chronic Pain

I Choose to be Distracted! 13 Tips to Deflect Chronic Pain…

My friend, Joy Terrell, is a survivor and you will be forever blessed by her words. She lives with chronic illness and has been a lifeline for me the past few years in dealing with “issues”. I have quoted her famous line many times that she uses to encourage me when I think that MY ailments and struggles are not as BIG or important as hers: “Just because I have two broken legs and you only have one doesn’t mean that YOUR broken leg hurts any less.” In this two part series, she is helping us to think of other things when the pain is overwhelming.

A distraction is something that makes it difficult or impossible to think about or pay attention to something else. We are all familiar with the consequences of driving while distracted. It is not possible to pay attention to our phones and our driving at the same time. Studies of the brain have debunked the idea that we can be multi-taskers. The brain can only pay attention to one conscious activity at a time. (Automatic and repetitive things like walking and eating get assigned to special networks in our brains that do not require conscious thought. Yes, it is possible to walk and chew gum!)

Even when we think we are multitasking, the brain is rapidly toggling back and forth between activities. Only one thing is toggled to the “on” position at a time. Although distractions often have a negative connotation, I want to look at them from another perspective.

Those of you who live with chronic pain can use distractions to your advantage.

I think we can agree that focusing on pain only intensifies our perception of the misery. I sometimes catch myself thinking, “I hurt sooo bad! Oh, I hurt SOOO BAD! I can’t take this! I hurt sooo bad!”. Guess what? The more I think about it, or say it, the worse it becomes. Especially on the “bad days”, I have learned that distractions are wonderful!

The ability to toggle off the pain and toggle on a distraction takes some practice and some preparation. I can promise it will be worth the effort.

A distraction from pain needs to be something that requires minimal effort.

Thinking ahead and having some options available, before the next difficult day, is important. Use a basket or a box to gather some things that will work for you. This can be a fun project. I am going to share some ideas for distractions that I find helpful.

Distracted

An activity that requires some level of creativity is great for keeping thoughts off pain. A few years ago, I rediscovered how much I enjoy coloring. Apparently, a lot of other adults did the same. There is no shortage of adult coloring books. Coloring is really relaxing. Thanks to Amazon and other online retailers, you can find what you want from the comfort of your recliner! One suggestion, if you have pain in hands or wrists, look for designs with larger patterns. The idea is not to create more pain! If coloring is not for you, try painting, knitting or whatever creative outlet you enjoy. Put the things you will need in your basket or box.

Make a list of movies you really enjoy. Don’t go for the ones that always make you cry! Think comedy, or at least happy endings. With a list, you won’t have to try to think of something when you are hurting and your brain is in a fog. If you don’t want to mess with searching for the movie, put an actual DVD in your “bad day” box.

Include a book of crosswords, Sudoku, word search or whatever you prefer. It is good to have options to fit that day’s mood.

Include prints of pictures that make you feel happy. Think pets, kids, grandkids, or your favorite vacation spot.

Who doesn’t feel better with some chocolate? Include a favorite snack.

A fuzzy blanket, heating pad, or other things that bring you comfort can be added.

A smartphone can put almost limitless activities at your fingertips. Social media, YouTube, or games can all pass a lot of time. Ask your online friends to send you a funny video or joke. Try it! I guarantee you, it will be entertaining.

There are other helpful activities that do not require any physical things and we will discuss those tomorrow! Be sure and join us for Part 2 of “I Choose to be Distracted”.

385665_437965479547500_1068992269_nJoy is a graduate of Purdue University School of Pharmacy. She is a licensed pharmacist, in early retirement. She is married to her favorite guy, Doug. They are “pet parents” to Kenzi, a golden doodle. Joy has served her church family as a Sunday school teacher, church secretary/treasurer, board member, and a willing helper.

 You might also like her post, Living at the Intersection of Faith and Chronic Illness, along the same subject lines. Blessings.

Distractions and Divisions: Majoring in the Minors

Sunday was an out-of-the-ordinary day for me. My beautiful niece, is just weeks away from blessing our family with a healthy baby boy. Baby JT (they aren’t giving us his name yet, just initials) will be my first great-nephew! He will also be my parents’ first great-grandchild. So it was only appropriate that we attend her baby shower, even if it was on a Sunday afternoon three hours away in another state. That’s what families do!

My sister-in-law offered to drive so we made a day of it. Sitting in the back seat of my brother’s brand new extended cab pickup truck, leather and loaded, my seat partner was my 12 year old niece Gracie. What fun we had telling stories that she had never heard before about family. Then on the way back, we played a game Gracie wanted to play: Start two words of a story then the next person repeats those words, adds their two words, and so it goes. I must say they were a bit ridiculous but I don’t know the last time I have laughed so hard.

I said all of that to say this: Driving down I-275 in Ohio, chatting away, all of a sudden my SIL swerves over into the median and then immediately corrects herself beautifully back onto the busy highway just like she had meant to do it. What I did NOT see was the driver beside us who was busy on his phone and not paying attention. He had wandered into our lane so quickly she had to react. React is exactly what she did; pickup trucks are not just for men! So many times in a situation like that you over-correct and cause a wreck, or you jerk so quickly to miss the guilty vehicle that you flip your own. Thankfully God was watching out for us and Shauna was an excellent driver.

It could have been so much worse; all because of distraction.

It’s been a busy time, to many a frustrating week. Don’t worry; I’m not going to become political. We all have opinions and convictions. Instead, let us think about spiritual warfare, about someone else who has been busy, very busy with distraction and divisions. The Bible tells us that Satan is like a roaring lion, roaming to and fro. Doing what? He is seeking whom he may DEVOUR. (1 Peter 5:8.)

“Now as they went on their way, Jesus entered a village. And a woman named Martha welcomed him into her house. And she had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to his teaching. But Martha was distracted with much serving. And she went up to him and said, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me.” But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her.” Luke 10:38-42 ESV.

Martha was distracted. The scripture doesn’t say she was too busy, it doesn’t say she was guilty of doing something insignificant. But she was distracted by the things that were not important Distracted means to be physically pulled or dragged away from something. There was division between Martha and her sister, Mary.

Everyone had to eat eventually; even Jesus would share their meal. But Martha was distracted with MUCH serving. Mary was “at the feet of Jesus” which doesn’t particularly mean she was sitting right on His toes. It was used to signify that she was a follower of Jesus, she made it her purpose to hang on His every word and if He was in the room there was NOTHING else that would distract her from hearing from Him!

Is that where we find ourselves today? All of the political, social and economic happenings are important and not to be taken lightly. But what could we be doing that is more important, no matter how we feel about different situations?

Majoring in the Minors

Look at this passage of scripture that speaks so plainly (the bold emphasis is mine):

“But you must not forget this one thing, dear friends: A day is like a thousand years to the Lord, and a thousand years is like a day. The Lord isn’t really being slow about his promise, as some people think. No, he is being patient for your sake. He does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants everyone to repent. But the day of the Lord will come as unexpectedly as a thief. Then the heavens will pass away with a terrible noise, and the very elements themselves will disappear in fire, and the earth and everything on it will be found to deserve judgment.

Since everything around us is going to be destroyed like this, what holy and godly lives you should live, looking forward to the day of God and hurrying it along. On that day, he will set the heavens on fire, and the elements will melt away in the flames. But we are looking forward to the new heavens and new earth he has promised, a world filled with God’s righteousness.

And so, dear friends, while you are waiting for these things to happen, make every effort to be found living peaceful lives that are pure and blameless in his sight. And remember, our Lord’s patience gives people time to be saved. This is what our beloved brother Paul also wrote to you with the wisdom God gave him— speaking of these things in all of his letters. Some of his comments are hard to understand, and those who are ignorant and unstable have twisted his letters to mean something quite different, just as they do with other parts of Scripture. And this will result in their destruction.

You already know these things, dear friends. So be on guard; then you will not be carried away by the errors of these wicked people and lose your own secure footing. Rather, you must grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. All glory to him, both now and forever! Amen.” 2 Peter 3:3-18 NLT.

I could have easily highlighted it all, it is so good. Peter is telling us that there are things out there that can easily trip us up, distract us and keep us from our ultimate purpose: that the Lord might delay His coming just so more people could be saved! While we are waiting for His return we are to be living peaceful lives, pure and blameless in His sight, pointing others to Him.

This is nothing new; these are the Apostle Peter’s words, not mine! So we must be on guard! Pour ourselves into study of the Word so we will not be fooled and confused and lose our own secure footing.

I am not taking lightly anything that is going on in the world from ISIS terrorism to racial relations, marriage redefinition, who will be the next president of the United States and on and on and on…it is all important! We should be praying, fasting, petitioning God to have mercy on our country and our world. None of these things should surprise the Christian…we have the playbook! We know these things must come to pass before the Lord will come to take us out of here and we will be ushered into His presence. We do not know when that day will be but I just have to think the Lord is grieved with our distraction and the devil is dancing with glee.

Let us remember the MAJORS: The Gospel, reaching the lost, sharing the literal Good News that Jesus Christ still delivers, still saves, still heals, still brings hope to the hopeless. If we don’t tell them, who will? May we not be so distracted by letting our voices be heard on the latest Supreme Court decision, mass shooting, or act of terrorism that we forget to tell the one sitting beside us at lunch that Jesus is the answer. And the way out.

Souls going out into eternity are the majors, everything else is minor.

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