Spiritual Fitness & Living With Chronic Pain

This morning has been rough for me. Whenever I progress forward with chronic pain, sometimes it feels as if I also take two steps backwards. And today is just one of those days. Do you ever experience something similar like this? Awake since 3:30 am with a headache, back pain and burning legs, not to mention fatigue.
 
So what will I do to cope? I will do what I know to be true. Instead of giving into self-pity and developing a defeatist attitude, I will walk through today’s adversity the best I can. Of course, the way I walk today is meant for today only.  The way I walk tomorrow, in terms of how I live out my life for that day, may be entirely different. I must consider each day as a gift of life.  In doing so, this makes it easier to get through the trials of today with renewed hope and realizing the load of pain is not too burdensome.
 
Whenever I start to think about my long walk of the past or I perseverate about the future, this is when hopelessness digs its heels into my heart. CS Lewis once wrote, “When trying to look into the future, you just may find a ‘No Trespassing’ sign.” So true… Looking into the future only creates additional anxiety, especially when chronic pain feels to heavy to begin with.

Keep me on your favorites.  Please click onto www.gordonselley.com for more information about living with chronic pain, as well as spiritual healing.

Sometimes it takes an accident or a disease or something beyond our comprehension to really get our attention. That is what suffering did for me. It pulverized my false illusions about being invincible in my personal and professional pursuit of excellence. Material and relational ambitions took a backseat to a search for inner truth.

In essence, suffering tore down many belief systems I had as an American Christian.  The mindset to become something spectacular or something bigger or something to emulate, even among my Christian peers, came crashing down when undergoing four neck surgeries. I was no longer invincible, and in effect, many others, including my Christian friends, wanted nothing else to do with me. It was like I became some form of contamination due to injury, weakness and what is usually unspoken – this happening of injury must have occurred because of sin or lack of faith. I am sure many of you can relate to these types of false accusations.

But what really happened to me turned out to be a gift. Because of suffering, my outlook toward my way of thinking, believing and living changed.  For instance, linear thinking and works-based performance about faith dissolved. Deductive reasoning about spiritual growth demonstrated incorrect results. The theological doctrine for today that obedience always leads to blessing of health and wealth and disobedience brings about curses proved obsolete.

Self-image and self-importance and self-improvement may very well be the rewards of this worldly life. But for those whose entire lives are being transformed because of suffering, the better life is about having a better hope, which is a deeper relationship with God.

Another lesson of suffering is the lack of predictability of faith. In other words, you can’t exactly predict the outcomes of faith or magically navigate its course toward superstitious blessing.  Suffering separates the men from the boys when it comes to understanding prayer and faith.

Suffering shows you that faith is not something controlled by man, even if he or she has the Holy Spirit within him or her. Instead, it is about being in love with the administrator of faith, which is Jesus Christ. If you believe and practice Christianity, suffering creates a stronger need for dependence upon God, not on your own talents or abilities to accomplish or methods of saying the right things in prayer.

In conclusion for this blog, suffering does away with the nonsense of the religious nonsense, and brings you to the place of meaningful truth.

Keep me on your favorites.  Please click onto www.gordonselley.com for more information about living with chronic pain, as well as spiritual healing.

Yesterday I just launched this site as a voice for those who suffer with chronic pain or experience the nightmare of trying to shed those unwanted pounds.

Throughout these blog postings, I am going to share a variety of information, including my own personal testimony, containing both my real-life struggles and actual victories. Don’t worry. I am going to forego preachy sermons about spiritual exhibitionism or self-actualization. You’re not going to hear three-point messages about the “do’s and don’ts” of living correctly.  It does not seem as if this approach renders very effective results.

Therefore, I plan to share my wounds as a source of healing, in terms of being a process. Not that I am your healer. I personally can’t take away the loneliness or the pain of another. But instead, through the mire of my long-suffering, you are free to glean whatever you want to better overcome your own obstacles in life. Perhaps your wounds are integral to deeper spiritual questions or answers to some possible brokenness with which you still struggle?

Keep me on your favorites.  Please click onto www.gordonselley.com for more information about living with chronic pain, as well as spiritual healing.

Think of my blog as a collection site for great ideas about living with chronic pain and weight loss motivation. Read my story, peruse my articles and watch my videos regarding my approach with dealing with chronic pain and losing weight at the same time.

By now, formal introductions seem pointless. Yet for those who do not know who I am, my name is Gordon Selley. With overflowing enthusiasm, I welcome you to my blog, as well as my site at www.GordonSelley.com

Do you fear an impersonal life of either living in pain or being overweight? You’re not alone. I encourage you to step out of anonymity, share your thoughts and insights, and ban together to strengthen each other in the walk of transformation.

I look forward to hearing from you!

Keep me on your favorites.  Please click onto www.gordonselley for more information about living with chronic pain, as well as spiritual healing.