I have always been extremely over critical of myself. Most of this critical thinking has to do with an extreme drive that everything I do must be perfect or the best possible. I just recently turned 30 and with this significant age marker came even more criticism. A whole lot of "you didn't expect to be in horrible pain still at 30 years old," or " great, you are a 30 year old that is only able to get through the day because of the pain medication and muscle relaxers you need to take everyday." Of course I don't want to be in pain or on daily medication that causes side effects so this type of critical thinking just makes me feel worse about myself. I think I think this way because I feel the need to be perfect, always have. I also think I think this way because I am always comparing myself to others, like "none of my other friends are 30 and in horrible pain and on pain meds so therefore there is something wrong with me and I am not good enough," or especially comparisons of physical appearance. I weigh more now then I ever have in my life and I beat myself up over it almost everyday. This kind of thoughts are not new though, I have been thinking this way my entire life so it is hard to catch the thoughts when they are going through my head but I am trying to become more aware of them and convince myself that this kind of thinking is not beneficial AT ALL and is actually harmful to myself. I think a lot of this journey towards living a pain free life is going to require learning the art of self love and self care, stomping out the critical/perfectionist thoughts and simple being able to be comfortable sitting with myself as I am.