Daily writing prompt

What’s something most people don’t understand?

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Today’s Daily Prompt is an easy one for me but only in the sense that I know something you don’t. Let me explain:

Chronic Pain. Most people don’t understand what it does to a person. They will never understand unless they experience it themselves.

Chronic pain stays in the forefront of your thoughts, all day every day. When you’re in constant pain, it becomes part of your thought process. Everything you want or need to do, you must consider your pain. Everywhere you want to go, you must consider your pain. If you want to visit someone, you must consider your pain. Will I be able to mop the floor today? Will I be able to cook something today? Will I have the energy to walk into a store and grab a few items? Will I be able to sit comfortably to watch my grandson play ball? When I go visit my family, will they understand when I have to leave? Will there be steps or stairs? Is the toilet going to be too low? Will there be handlebars to grip so I don’t fall? Will the grocery store have a scooter available so I don’t have to walk? Will someone be able to help me if I have trouble? These are just some of the things I have to consider.   

Not many people understand what it’s like to be in pain constantly. I pray you will never have to deal with what I deal with. No matter what the pain is from, it’s debilitating. Pain sucks your energy away. Pain thwarts your abilities. Pain causes depression, sadness, and helplessness. It causes loneliness because you retreat from the people and things that made you happy before, the things that made you who you are… It destroys your life as you once knew it. You’re not the same person anymore. It changes you. 

I hope you will keep this in mind when you’re dealing with a person with a chronic illness. You just have no idea what they are going through. 

Do you remember that show from the ’60s called “Bewitched”? I loved it as a kid and I even watch it now on FETV most nights as I’m drifting off to sleep. In case you’re not familiar with the show, Samantha was a witch and her mortal husband didn’t like her to use witchcraft. Samantha’s mother was always meddling and casting spells on others, especially on Samantha’s husband! Crazy situations arose in every episode.

I always wished I had powers like Samantha. I wouldn’t use my powers for nefarious purposes. I would use them to improve my situation and help others, too. If someone didn’t want me to use my powers, then tough titty!

I would twitch my nose and fix the bathroom ceiling that partially fell in due to all the rain the other night. The ceiling got so wet from so many leaks, it couldn’t bear the weight any longer. I would twitch my nose and fix the foundation, the walls, the floors, and the roof. I would finish the new house, and with a twitch of my nose, we’d be moved in. I would fix my knees and reverse Dad’s health back about 10 years. I would help my friends and family with their problems, too.

Don’t get me wrong; I would live a mostly mortal life. I’m not afraid of work. In fact, I’d just love to be able to get back to a life where I could work! I’d love to do some work on the house like before I was disabled. Dad and I did many projects together on this old house. We added a bedroom, replaced floors, and painted the house. We built a deck in the back, fixed leaky faucets, put in linoleum, and repaired all kinds of things. I loved it! I can’t do any of those things now so Samantha’s powers would be awesome!

Well, I don’t have Samantha’s powers. Bummer. I have to settle with the hand I’ve been dealt, just like everyone else.

The skills I have now aren’t so secret, I suppose. I can usually figure out what’s wrong with my computer and have actually done so when computer techs couldn’t figure it out! Other skills include crocheting, and I used to be one hell of a cook!

What about you?

I can’t say there’s just one word that describes me. Some people would say that I am: talented, resilient, funny… There are many words I could use here to describe myself but for this post, I think I am reserved.

The Oxford Dictionary defines reserved as: slow to reveal emotion or opinions.

I guess that would be me. Unless I know someone really well, I will keep to myself. I don’t like to show emotion. That goes way back to being a child when my mother would ridicule me for crying. It didn’t matter if I was injured, scared, or just upset about something. She would make fun and then she would say, “Stop crying or I’ll give you something to cry about.” Nice. Thanks Mom. I never said that to my kids. I didn’t want them to feel unheard or that how they felt didn’t matter. As an empath, it’s very hard for me to contain my emotions but I try.

I am slow to reveal opinions. That also goes back to when I was younger. As a teenager and even when I was an adult, every time I had an opinion about something she would say, “You don’t know what you’re talking about!” So, there ya go. That’s why I don’t like to give my opinion – but if I know you really well I feel more comfortable having opinion-related conversation. I feel like I can voice my opinions in this blog and sometimes on Facebook but I have been told several times that I was wrong or that I needed to read this or that, or something else that negated my opinion.

So, there’s the one word that describes me. RESERVED.

What one word describes YOU?

I think if I were going on a cross-country trip, I would take whichever mode of transportation that is available to one basic destination, don my backpack and start hiking! Of course, I’d have to be physically able to do that. At this time, I am not. It would be so much fun to get back to one of the things I loved the most as a younger person; hiking. There’s just nothing like it in the world. 

Since that is not an option for me, I think I’d take the train. I have heard that you can see the most beautiful sights traveling via train. I would take my bestie with me and rest assured, it would be an adventure!