Gratitude and Pain

I originally wrote this in 2010 for One Eternal Round. I stumbled across it today and want to save it here. 

A few weeks ago, I got sick. It came on steadily throughout the day. I felt tired and miserable. My body ached. When DH got home, he sent me to bed. As I laid there, I started identifying where I felt pain. My waist hurt. My toes hurt. My belly button hurt. My elbows hurt. My knees and wrists hurt. All the places in between hurt. As I was lying there feeling sorry for myself, my thoughts broadened. Some people are in constant pain because of illness or disease. I felt both grateful and ashamed – grateful that pain was rare in my life, ashamed at how much more good I could be doing with my health and energy. I remembered Christ, whose pain in Gethsemane was so exquisite that He shed drops of blood. I thanked him silently for His sacrifice and for the love that motivated it. In this mindset, I fell asleep.

When I woke up the next morning, I was much better – still tired, but not in pain.

I write about this because I want to remember it. It seems like I don’t fully appreciate my comfort until I feel pain. It seems like, at least in my life, pain and gratitude are linked.  I wonder how many other blessings I don’t recognize because they have always been there.

Is pain useful in your life? How do you help yourself to recognize blessings?