The Effect of the Positive

I’m not the only one who is doing the April challenge to do something every day, there are others, and one got an interesting response on a post with pictures of some beautiful flowers she had photographed.  The response said simply, “looking at flowers does not stop the pain.”  The blogger had her own response, but I thought I’d respond to it as well.

So, does doing something enjoyable, like taking pictures daily, looking at photos of beautiful flowers, or anything like that really help your pain?

I honestly believe it can.  Not only does doing pleasant things alter the neurotransmitters that can affect your mood, but thinking positively also can help your pain.  I know a lot of people who live with chronic illness or chronic pain hate hearing, “if you change your thinking, it can get better,” but it is true.

Many people feel that using “positive thinking” as a method of treating pain is too difficult, doesn’t show results quickly enough or dramatically enough.  In a world where popping a pill is expected to be a “quick cure,” people want to take a pill and see instant results.  Unfortunately changing how you look at life isn’t as easy as just popping a pill, and the results are not instant.

Changing your way of looking at life, your way of looking at pain, is far more difficult than filling a prescription and taking a pill daily.  It requires careful evaluation of your thought process, and a willingness to recognize and change things.  Not only that, but it requires you to accept full responsibility for your emotions.

Admitting that positive thinking has an affect on how you view your pain, and how it affects your life takes away some of the idea of being a “victim” of pain.  No longer can you state that your pain “made you feel” a certain way, because now you know that pain can’t make you feel any way, but you can choose how you feel in response to your pain.  I love the quote below that has been bouncing around on Facebook, it is so perfect for those of us in pain.

We can choose each day to suffer in misery or to enjoy life as it is – and do our best to change all we can.  I’m choosing to enjoy life as much as I can, I’m choosing happiness today and if taking some pictures, admiring nature, or doing a simple art project can help me feel happy and content, then I’m going to keep doing it.