Sharing our Feelings

[Guest guest]

,

You wrote, " This group means a lot to me and I hope I have not hurt anyone's

feelings. Sometimes my anger/fear towards the medical community makes me hard.

... thanks for being here. "

I appreciate your comments. It is most important that we all remember that we

are coming from a place of not knowing and most of us are in tremendous daily

pain. My experience tells me that when I am outwardly angry, I am inwardly

fearful and afraid. This disease is serious, and as we see on our Memorial Page

this disease takes lives. [i encourage everyone to visit the PAI Memorial at:

http://www.pancassociation.org/memorial2.html ]

It is important to share our feelings and fears, as well as our experiences.

Whether real or perceived, they are our reality. The PAI encourages us to

focus on how the world around us impacts our own personhood and livelihood. It

is

not an issue of where or by whom instigated an insult or injustice, verbal or

physical; it's an issue of how these events have affected you. As stress is

known to have an aggregate and negative affect on the disease process, doing

what you can to process out any toxic emotions, or anything else, is imperative.

I won't call a posse against a doctor, hospital, or another healthcare

provider because of a bad experience I had. Every interpersonal relation or

interaction is different for everyone and is multifaceted. But, if I feel that

an

external person, place, or thing is toxic to my health, I may not ever go back,

only, however, after I see what my role or responsibility was in the

disturbance. And, everybody always has some part. That does not justify or

support any

inappropriate or rude action on the other party, however. I have been known to

require myself to return and make an amend for my behavior, as much as I regret

to admit that.

As much as we intellectually know that no one can make us feel anything or

anyway, we tend to wear our emotions on our sleeves. Our feelings get hurt

before what has happened can make it to our intellect, so it's natural that our

initial response is to feel wronged, get angry, or be scared. When I start

having these feeling, I now realize that I have just handed over my power to

someone or something that probably doesn't even know the value of what I gave

away.

Because, as before, no one can take away our power, we give it to them.

The critical factor to achieving holistic balance, emotional, mental,

physical, and spiritual, is to focus our attention to the present moment, take

an

internal inventory, and make a decision to move your center of gravity back into

balance. It is about choosing to give up your power or choosing to take back

your power. As long as we have choices, we are empowered; and we always have

choices, though they may not be obvious or the ones we want.

The present moment can never be what someone has done to you, because that is

the past. The present moment is how you are responding to the past and how

you are choosing to live proactively in the future. Though there may only be

minutes to hours to days between the past, present, and future, you should

always

be cognizant of the only one that matters...the present...that is why they

call it a gift.

I always say that I am not a culmination of what has happened to me, but a

culmination of my response to what has happened to me. That, in itself, is

empowering.

This venue of sharing is empowering.

Karyn E. , RN

Executive Director, PAI

http://www.pancassociation.org

Pancreatitis Association International