“Pain nourishes courage. You can’t be brave if you’ve only had wonderful things happen to you.”
-Mary Tyler Moore
The above quote is very true, but it’s terribly difficult to live in pain every day. Not only with the physical aspect, but with the mental aspect that comes along with it. It’s very true that pain can nourish courage, but only if you allow it. You can either chose to wallow in self pity or you can flourish and grow. I’ll eventually share with you my wallowing time in my journey thus far. People say it didn’t last long but living it, I felt like it did! And I’m sure I’ll have more wallowing going forward from time to time. I feel this can only be expected.
It’s also true that we learn best from our mistakes. So, how could we be brave if we’ve only ever had wonderful things happen to us? Everyone goes through valleys, but it’s up to you how you choose to come out of that valley. Are you going to learn from the trials and hard times. Or are you going to come through the same person as you were when you went in? I’ve said before, I’m not sure how anyone gets diagnosed with CRPS and doesn’t have some form of depression as it changes or affects every single aspect of your life. But it also changes you, hopefully for the better but sometimes not. I’ve went through times of anger, sadness, you name it. But the thing is, I’m forever changed! I’ll never look at life the same as I did before. Not that I feel I took it for granted before, but I simply have a new perspective. Call me “brave” if you want for having gone through this terrible thing. To me, I’m just doing what I know how to make it through. I’ve always been a fighter and I’m not about to let CRPS knock me down!