Watching the movie Road House, there are two lines I particularly like.
In one scene, Patrick Swayzey's charactor is in the emergency room being treated for a knife wound and refuses a local anesthetic saying "Pain don't hurt".
In another scene he is on the phone with Same Elliott's charactor and in response to a question about having some trouble says "Nothing I ain't used to, but it's amazing what you can get used to."
When living with intense pain for a long period of time, it really is amazing what one can get used to. Pain is something that you can agonize over and suffer from, or you can adopt the "Pain don't hurt" mindset. I think about this stuff this morning because of the deep, intense pain in my hip.
Some days the pain is less, some days more, but it's always there. I was awakened last night, I didn't look at the clock so no idea of exactly when, by very intense stabs of pain. After getting up and moving around a little, it eased back into the "normal" level of pain I have become used to and I was able to return to sleep.
This morning I am leaning very heavily on my cane as the pain is pretty severe. But, it is only pain. One can't really ignore this kind of pain, but can accept it. I don't agonize over it and bemoan it. It's there, and I am acutely aware of it, but short of dosing myself with the powerful narcotic pain killers, there is little I can do about it.
I don't like to use the pain killers and don't take them any more. The last time was when the pain was so severe that I couldn't sleep. I took a dose to help me sleep. Now, even with the pain, I can usually manage to fall asleep after a while. It is amazing what you can get used to.
So this morning I am in the mindset of "Pain don't hurt", sipping my coffee, and passing time as usual. I refuse to allow myself to surrender to the pain or to wallow in any sort of self pity and agony over something over which I have no control.
And this too shall pass.