Managing Your Emotions!!

It's Saturday afternoon the kids are having quite time, therefore it's quite time for mom and dad!! Actually today I'm feeling ok and looking forward to celebrating the Ethiopian New Year tonight. In case you didn't know we adopted our youngest daughter from Ethiopia. It's always a great time to get together with other adoptive families and we always have a great time. I've been having a tough week this week, trying to deal with the pain and some of the other symptoms of CRPS. However that being said I had a relaxing night alone last night thanks to my wife! I went out to our cottage and just enjoyed the quite and a night to myself with no kids.

It's night's like last night that help you get from one day to the next. It may only be one night but that night in my books is like gold!!!! Sometimes your pain creeps and creeps up on you, getting just a little bit worse each day. Finally it gets to the point where your body needs a break. Often I need reminders that I need to slow down or take some time to be quite. I feel like an adult who needs to be put in time out!! However because my body has a hard time slowing  down by itself I need to make it slow down. Spending the night alone last night did just that, it slowed things down and helps me in managing the pain.

Now that I've slowed things down and my pain is better controlled, I'll be able to enjoy the night out more with the family. When my pain is at a tolerable level, then it makes it so much easier for me to interact with my family. The emotional side of things can be so tough because you don't really see how much they can influence your pain until things get really bad. Often it takes someone telling you to take a breath and slow down. This is the time for your TIME OUT! Often people talk about your physical pain but forget about how your emotional state plays a part in all this as well.

When you suffer from chronic pain you don't just suffer from physical pain. Your emotions come under attack and it can sometimes be worse than the pain itself. This might seem easy to control however it isn't. What makes this difficult is that there are so many ways in which your emotions can be set off with a condition like this. There are days that I have a really hard time keeping them under control, however with help from the people around me I manage them the best that I can. There are lots of people however that don't understand the emotional side of our condition, and to those of you that don't I hope I can shed some light.

The easiest way that I can explain this is take a page out of my life. In many ways lots of the basic things in my life have become a real challenge. There are certain things I can do on my own and others that I need help. However there isn't a day where I don't rely on someone for some form of help.  Unless your in this type of a situation you truly can't understand the emotional effect that this has on a person. Lots of time is spent putting on a brave face and saying everything is ok when deep down inside you really aren't. In my case I have a really hard time admitting that I need help. I'd rather try doing it myself then ask for someones help.

When you spend time fighting your emotions then you cause lots of extra stress, which is then going to translate into lots of extra pain. If you don't get them under control then you'll continue to create added stress and feed your pain. Taking time for yourself is a great way to help and get them under control. What I have found to be an even bigger help however is asking God for His help. Whenever I have a difficult time with my emotions then I ask for His guidance and wisdom.

When your trying to manage your CRPS don't always think that things will be come easily. It takes an awful lot of fight and desire to overcome and win. Think about the first word in the condition "COMPLEX".  Your going to go through periods where things seem impossible to overcome. If there is one thing to take away from my post today it's this. Nothing is to complex for God to overcome!