Steve J.
Well known member
Hello,
I have been reflecting on many things since first embarking on this TMS journey about a month ago, and one major discovery that I've made (though it is pointed out in The Great Pain Deception) is considering whether or not I would be "happy" or "at ease" if my physical pain were to dissipate. Now, while some aspects of my life might improve (not fearing to swing a golf club or go snowboarding), the real answer is no, I wouldn't. My TMS has had several manifestations since being a little person, and it has all come to a head this past year and a half, revealing itself as physical distractions. My question is this: it seems that many of us suffer from some type of anxiety and/or depression whether it be due to the TMS or as a result of it...so what is it for you? The chicken or the egg? In my case, I had anxiety/depression/OCD long before I had any physical symptoms. Of course, the physical pain and discomfort has only amplified those conditions, therefore perpetuating this nasty cycle. TMS...you son of a b.
I have constant discomfort and pain now in my arms and lower back, and my focus now is to just be present in my life. To enjoy each moment has it comes, to detach myself from my thoughts. It's an incredibly novel and challenging concept for me to embrace, but when I do experience glimpses of mindfulness, or whatever you'd like to call it, it is amazing. What do you find helps when you feel overwhelmed? How do you infuse patience into the process, especially when the physical pain/anxiety/OCD/depression are all rapping hard on your heart simultaneously? How do you just...not think? This is a big one for me.
The following is an interesting little passage written by a man named Giacomo Leopardi about 200 years ago regarding patience and pain:
"For the Manual of Practical Philosophy. Patience, how it mitigates physical pain, makes it easier, more bearable, even lighter--as I myself experienced and observed during chest spasms I suffered in Bologna on May 29, 1826, where impatience and restlessness increased my pain. It's a question of non-resistance, mental resignation, a certain quieting of mind while suffering. You can sneer at this virtue or call it cowardice if you like. But it's still necessary to mankind, which is born, fated--inexorably, inevitably, irrevocably--to suffer, suffer greatly, with few reprieves. A virtue born or acquired (unwillingly sometimes) along with the necessity of enduring arduous or nagging experiences. Patience and quietude are largely what renders tolerable over a long term (to a prisoner for example) the awful tedium of solitude or idleness. A tedium almost unbearably grating because of how hard a man resists his troubles, because of his impatience and vehemence, his anxious craving to escape it. When resistance ceases, troubles and suffering become easier, lighter."
It's kind of comforting to know that folks were impatient back then, too.
Bless,
Steve
I have been reflecting on many things since first embarking on this TMS journey about a month ago, and one major discovery that I've made (though it is pointed out in The Great Pain Deception) is considering whether or not I would be "happy" or "at ease" if my physical pain were to dissipate. Now, while some aspects of my life might improve (not fearing to swing a golf club or go snowboarding), the real answer is no, I wouldn't. My TMS has had several manifestations since being a little person, and it has all come to a head this past year and a half, revealing itself as physical distractions. My question is this: it seems that many of us suffer from some type of anxiety and/or depression whether it be due to the TMS or as a result of it...so what is it for you? The chicken or the egg? In my case, I had anxiety/depression/OCD long before I had any physical symptoms. Of course, the physical pain and discomfort has only amplified those conditions, therefore perpetuating this nasty cycle. TMS...you son of a b.
I have constant discomfort and pain now in my arms and lower back, and my focus now is to just be present in my life. To enjoy each moment has it comes, to detach myself from my thoughts. It's an incredibly novel and challenging concept for me to embrace, but when I do experience glimpses of mindfulness, or whatever you'd like to call it, it is amazing. What do you find helps when you feel overwhelmed? How do you infuse patience into the process, especially when the physical pain/anxiety/OCD/depression are all rapping hard on your heart simultaneously? How do you just...not think? This is a big one for me.
The following is an interesting little passage written by a man named Giacomo Leopardi about 200 years ago regarding patience and pain:
"For the Manual of Practical Philosophy. Patience, how it mitigates physical pain, makes it easier, more bearable, even lighter--as I myself experienced and observed during chest spasms I suffered in Bologna on May 29, 1826, where impatience and restlessness increased my pain. It's a question of non-resistance, mental resignation, a certain quieting of mind while suffering. You can sneer at this virtue or call it cowardice if you like. But it's still necessary to mankind, which is born, fated--inexorably, inevitably, irrevocably--to suffer, suffer greatly, with few reprieves. A virtue born or acquired (unwillingly sometimes) along with the necessity of enduring arduous or nagging experiences. Patience and quietude are largely what renders tolerable over a long term (to a prisoner for example) the awful tedium of solitude or idleness. A tedium almost unbearably grating because of how hard a man resists his troubles, because of his impatience and vehemence, his anxious craving to escape it. When resistance ceases, troubles and suffering become easier, lighter."
It's kind of comforting to know that folks were impatient back then, too.
Bless,
Steve
