Will you still love me?

Will you still love me on my "bad days?"
Will you still love me when I am not in the best of moods, or slightly ill due to things I cannot control or understand?
Will you still love me when I am not the nicest of people, and forget to remember we ALL have "bad days?"
Will you still love me (although I am human) when I need a little reassurance or TLC, without having to worry about others and their feelings?
Will you still love me when I seem to need time alone to re-group or re-fuel?
Will you still love me when I am quiet - trying to keep from exploding when the house has "gone to pot", I have no idea "what is for dinner", or "there just isn't enough time in the day to do what I need to do?"
Will you still love me (not holding it against me) when I am "having a bad hair day?
Will you still love me and let me cry when I need to....not taking or assuming responsibility....but let me use your shoulder to lean on?
Will you still love me when I feel weak and think the world needs too much of me??
Will you still love me when I am not feeling pretty, or when I find a new change in my body...that isn't always a good change?
Will you still love me when I am old and gray, tired and wrinkled, and missing my youth?
Will you still love me when there is no one else to talk to, and I forget your name?

Will you still love me when I am gone?

--Written by Debbie W.



The Price of Pain

The cost of prescriptions, medical treatments and devices, surgeries, worker's comp insurance, disability payments, physical therapy, psychological therapy and such...Yes, you can add all those things up and get a total cost...but that is not the price of pain. The price of pain is more...

The price of pain is the loss of self-respect when you can no longer complete personal grooming, cook meals or take care of your family the way you want to...

The price of pain is the loss of rewarding employment when you cannot perform the tasks to do the job you love...

The price of pain is the loss of quality of life when you can't go hiking with your children or dancing with your spouse...

The price of pain is the loss of relationships with friends and family when the pain and medication makes it impossible to even have a conversation or attend important events...

The price of pain is no longer being independent when you cannot drive or shop for groceries alone...

The price of pain is the depression and mental anguish the pain brings with it...

The price of pain is the loss of sleep and the resulting problems sleep deprivation causes...

The price of pain is the side effects of the medications taken in an attempt to survive the day...

The price of pain is when you lose who you are in the pain. These things and more are the price of pain. It is the living every minute of every day around what your pain level is or when you can take the next dose of medication, praying it will bring more pain relief than the last dose. When happiness is 3-4 hours of pain-free sleep or a day with only 75% of the usual pain...

The price of pain is paid by the person in pain as well as those who love them...

The price of pain is watching someone you love suffer day after day, night after night and you are helpless to ease their pain...

The price of pain is when your child asks "Can you play with me, if you are feeling Ok?"

The price of pain is beyond money, the price of pain is beyond words, the price of pain is all encompassing. The price of pain seems endless...

The price of pain is there until the day that person is free of their damaged body...

The price of pain is all these things and more. But the pain is not me and I am not the pain...

The pain is part of my life, but the pain will not be my life. I will fight, fight, and fight. And though the pain fills my life it will not take my life. Each day I live, I fight and show the pain who I am. Even though the pain may take much of my life it will not consume me. I will not allow the price to be that high...

The price of pain is all this, but I am more...
Author ~ Unknown



This year....

May you find serenity and tranquility in a world you may not always understand.

May the pain you have known
and the conflict you have experienced
give you the strength to walk through life
facing each new situation
with optimism and courage.

Always know that there are those
whose love and understanding
will always be there
even when you feel most alone.

May you discover enough goodness in others
to believe in a world of peace.

May a kind word, a reassuring touch,
a warm smile, be yours every day of your life,
and may you give these gifts as well as receive them.

Remember the sunshine when the storm seems unending.

Teach love to those who know hate,
and let that love embrace you as you go into the world.

May the teaching of those you admire
become part of you,
so that you may call upon them.

Remember, those whose lives you have touched
and who have touched yours are always a part of you,
even if the encounters were less
than you would have wished.

May you not become too concerned
with material matters, but instead place
immeasurable value on the goodness in your heart.

Find time in each day to see the beauty
and love in the world around you.

Realize that each person has limitless abilities,
but each of us is different in our own way.

What you may feel you lack in one regard
may be more than compensated for in another.

What you feel you lack in the present
may become one of your strengths in the future.

May you see your future
as one filled with promise and possibility.

Learn to view everything
as a worthwhile experience.

May you find enough inner strength
to determine your own worth by yourself,
and not be dependent on another's judgements
of your accomplishments.

But most of all....

May you always feel loved.

~by Sandra Sturtz Hauss~

GOD Bless ~