All Work and No Play Makes PAIN!!!

I am feeling good and comfortable, with just a memory of a headache that was waiting for me when I woke up today.

Before Sarno, on a day like today, I would be in agonizing misery wishing to be shot. My head would be pounding non stop with my eyes bloodshot. I would be hiding from light and sound and smells whimpering and wishing the day could end. I would be tossing and turning and crying and eventually barfing over and over with my head ready to explode.

Just thinking about this is terrible.

Life is full of chores and ceaseless work- especially if you become a responsible adult. Who the heck wants to be one of those? It happens without you even noticing it.

Just a few days ago I was saying to my wife and again to my dad- "Wow, life seems normal. Things are going good. Life is where it's supposed to be."

I guess I didn't knock on wood.

3 years ago our farm, Monkey in the Garden (we're on Facebook) got narrowly missed by a forest fire, then totally slammed by a massive flood, more appropriately a massive fire hose effect, that wiped away 5.2 acres of our farm with trees animals well and more.

Anyways, after a crazy evacuation, then rebuild of our mostly destroyed farm, we have finally arrived here and now, a few days before today.


Our farm is doing great. Fences are up, buildings are built, new orchard is planted, gardens are full. Just the sweet potatoes left to plant. Wow, too good to be true after years of mayhem and disasters.

And then, a few days ago, a message from the local First Nations chief "10 hectare fire 14kms from you- be aware"

Okay, we live in forest fire country (BC, Canada) and fires happen. Still, it is May and rainy WTF?!!

So, no time for swinging in hammocks.

The fire pump is suddenly priority. Setting up 2" water lines with all over the farm is priority. Filling empty water buckets and planning for possibility of evacuation order (no kids or old folks allowed to be here) is all priority. Yeesh!

Anyways, most of the irrigation is now ready. Fire crews have mostly squashed the fire. I have actively been dealing with cutworms and cabbage worms that our crops have been getting slammed by (farmlife doesn't go on hold).

And so, today, I woke up feeling a bit of a headache. With no imminent threat, my pissed off subconscious has given me pain as a distraction to all of my crazy rage.

Instead of my pre Sarno experiences of getting worse and worse symptoms until death would be welcome, I have tried to do as little as possible today, and have evaporated my symptoms (never as quickly as you'd hope!).

Sure, lots of talking to my brain, and also a little nap (luxury), comic book reading (walking dead), and finally, after shutting away all the animals, a board game (munchkin) with my amazing wife and daughter, mead (honey wine) and here I am writing now. And feeling good.

Dinner to cook next (no takeout in here in the sticks, sigh) then movie. Fun fun fun when the work is done.

Mark Sopher's book is great. CELEBRATE!

All work and no play makes pain!

When we know that it's our brain creating pain because it is enraged, then what is more enraging than NO FUN?!!!!

If there is no pressing emergency in your life, then go have some fun!

 

Some times when I intercept them at the door, so to speak, I can fend them off..I caught one trying to sneak in last week, but being fresh off a Gnarly reminder event, my 'TMS toolkit' was sharp and I effectively battled it out.

This year for whatever reason a lot of people have been hitting me up for kickbacks..Money for jobs they referred me to. I know it's normal in some industries, but i have never done it and puts me in a TMS trap...I always try and give clients the best deal I can, so that money is coming out of MY pocket...and that is rage inducing since I am doing the work. Also, a lot of times they have asked for the cash AFTER I have made a bid or estimate..I don't raise prices on people after a deal..I am obsessed with integrity and honesty...anything else has always gotten me in a bad place.

Mystery groin spasm...1000% percent TMS. I literally got out of Bed and talked to me...and it was gone the next morning. The metaphor is f-ing perfect, huh? "He's got me by the B@lls!"

anyways.. I suppose it is all perspective . I always want to run away and live on a farm. Actually the happiest I ever was in life was when I took care of Horses and shoveled poop all day... I have been a city boy who doesn't do well in cities my whole life (see the 'Heart attack" thread)

I don't mind what I do...I guess where I do it is the TMS maker. I could totally get into planting potatoes and i am Jealous.

peace

 

Great reminder! And glad you are feeling better and hopefully the fire won’t get you! I love hearing about your farm life.

 

It seems like THEY are not cutting a fair deal. Asking for cash after. Maybe you should listen to your rage? (I can only say this cuz I’m in business for myself as a freelance writer and I give estimates too. I HATE free work!)

 

I need to change that 'Never as quickly as I hope' to 'Often I can stop the pain as quickly as pulling a shotgun from behind my back and blowing the pain to hell!'

That really is more accurate. Although it isn't always so easy to stop the pain in its tracks, it is important to not plant the idea into our subconscious that it takes a while to overcome the pain.

I believe that conditioning could be the biggest part of TMS.

'What you hold in mind you produce in kind'. This verse, when coupled with Sarno's instruction manual, is a truly powerful and effective healing powerhouse.

If we tell ourselves that it will always take 87 hours, 32 minutes, and 17 seconds to overcome this or that symptom, then we are conditioning ourselves to expect that that is how long it will take to overcome our symptoms (I am sure that there are billions of people who would be thrilled to overcome their symptoms in that amount of time).

Not me.

None of the people who are successfully using Sarno's methods want to settle for anything less than instant blasting away of symptoms.

There is no doubt that in my 4 years of successful overcoming of my symptoms since reading 'Healing Back Pain' that I have overcome most symptoms with a flick of the wrist, or more a direct, serious command to my brain to 'STOP THE FUCKING PAIN RIGHT NOW!'.

We all slip up. We all have our lifetime of conditioning. Most humans have spent their entire lives believing that their pain and symptoms are caused by everything under the sun, except for BURIED RAGE.

Sarno says to not set a timeline on how long it will take to overcome our symptoms. That is fine, because it can take a long time to undo our lifetime of conditioning, and to build up our shields to protect us from ongoing conditioning (society never stops dropping conditioning bombs on us. Plug your ears, eyes and nose- bad advice is never going to stop creeping your way.)

He says this in regards to that it may all take longer than you hope.

Just don't condition yourself to expect things to take any longer than that moment when you grab a frying pan off the stove and beat the brains out of your pain. Don't delay or hum and haw. Get the message to your subconscious that you're the boss and you expect your brain to follow your orders and STOP THE PAIN RIGHT NOW!

If it takes longer than you hope- oh well. Just don't plant the idea that this is normal. Normal and natural is no pain and no symptoms.......

Even animals in old age don't exhibit pain as we would expect. I have hung out with old goats, old chickens, old dogs, old cats- all who ought to have, by human standards, been wailing in agonizing pain. Not so.

Animals don't condition themselves to expect pain and symptoms.

Its us poor suckers of humans who fall for that madness.

 

Every time I read your blogs on here @Michael Coutts the TV series 'Little House on the Prairie' pops into my head (which I used to love watching as a kid)... As I guess you'll know, in LHOTP there are big get togethers, families visiting from neighbouring areas and all sorts of adversity happens but the neighbours help each other out, mending things and lending things, sharing skills, raising barns, warning each other about impending dangers, putting out crop, barn and other fires with water from the nearest well by passing the water in buckets along a human chain etc etc etc... and amongst all the trials and tribulations the people still manage to have some fun and laughter together -- Absolutely nothing whatsoever like my life as a life-long townie in suburban England! Keep happy, well and pain-free, and I (obviously) hope the fires keep away from your lovely farm and family. I look forward to reading the next 'episode' of 'Monkey in the Garden'.