Creativity And Pain, How they work together by Dr Tim Sams

NOTE FROM GRACE, I DO NOT KNOW DR TIM PERSONALLY AND I DO NOT AGREE WITH SOME OF HIS STATEMENTS. He states that We are Creators. No, we are CO-Creators with the Lord. You don't create with nothing, only God can do that. However I felt that he had a lot of very good ideas on how to BECOME creative. Do know if I could have changed a few sentences I feel are wrong according to scripture, I would have, but in order to present this here, I had to NOT change the article.

CREATIVITY
Welcome to the current newsletter issue of Advances in Medicine
(AIM) - Take AIM against pain, brought to you by Dr. Tim Sams
and My Pain Relief Doc - www.mypainreliefdoc.com
Feel free to send me, Dr Tim an e-mail with your own thoughts and
experiences. DR TIM Email: timsams@mypainreliefdoc.com


Creativity is one of the most important aspects for
self-management of persistent pain. In ABC's of Pain Relief
and Treatment: Advances, Breakthroughs and Choices, Chapter 8
discusses "The Terrible Truth about Coping with Pain." The
terrible truth is that people cope with pain the way they have
coped with life before pain, though they can change their
coping style. They do not morph into a completely different person.
They approach pain with the same strategies they have approached the
rest of their lives.

There are seven basic choices that determine life effectiveness
with pain, which are arranged in a hierarchy of importance:
honesty, courage, independence, creativity, planning,
initiative, and perseverance. In previous newsletters, we have
discussed honesty, courage, and independence. Now, let's
explore creativity.

Creativity is the strangest of the seven choices. You may not
think of yourself as a creative person if you don't draw,
paint, or write poetry or music. You may not conceive of
creativity as a choice. How does one choose to be creative, if
you're not a creative person?

First, let's define creativity. To create is to bring
something into existence. Creativity is the process by which
one creates. Creativity is not confined by any particular outcome.
Creativity is a process that includes a willingness to see the
familiar in a new way-to change perceptions in a novel way
that encourages the birth of a unique entity.

Certainly, you can be creative with art, music, or writing, to
produce a painting, a song, or a story. But, you can also be
creative about solving a problem, coping with an issue, and
communicating with a friend.

You can give yourself permission to try a new angle, or a new
perspective. You can take a fresh approach to an old problem,
perception, attitude, belief, or behavior. You can imagine.

You need to be honest about what the reality of the situation
is. You need to be courageous about trying something unfamiliar
and scary, risking humiliation or failure. You need to be
independent, not following what other people say or do, but
what works for you, in your head and your heart. Only then can you
be free to explore options and try multiple strategies. Only then
can you imagine what it would be like if it were different,
whatever it is. Only then can you imagine the process necessary
to make it different.

So now we come to pain. Maybe you've been hurting for a few
months, or years, or decades. Regardless, you've developed
patterns and approaches to pain that were born of different
medical treatments and different outcomes. You've tried
numerous strategies for dealing with pain, or not.

You may have settled into a rhythm of pain and misery and brief
respites from both. You may be certain about what makes your
pain worse and what makes it better. This knowledge and tragic
experience can and does conflict profoundly with the creative
process, and with hope. Hope needs alternatives. It needs
options. It needs to believe that there is a path that involves
less pain (by the way, this is always true).

Read some pain books, and check out some web sites. My book is
certainly an option and contains several hundred strategies for
coping with pain-no, for decreasing pain and increasing your
activity and effective function. If you have accepted your pain
problem, you know that you will have pain for a while. Let
yourself experiment with different strategies, no matter how
strange they seem. Be a scientist. Maybe there is a technique
you have tried but which you can try in a different way that
might be successful.

Hurl yourself into fresh snow. Carve out a new snow angel-a
new path. Is there any greater hope to create something new
than the moment you commit to fresh, untouched snow, or canvas,
or paper? Since you are reading this newsletter, it is likely
that you are unsatisfied with the amount of pain relief you are
getting from your current medical and self-management
treatments.

Do something different-something unique-something weird.
Drop the censor that says, "Well, that doesn't make sense."

Find your own path. Listen to other people's suggestions, but
don't assume that other people know what is best for you. Be
your own creator.

Most people approach pain management by hanging desperately
onto whatever the doctor treating their pain recommends. Know
that, in the long-term, what you do for your pain is so much
more important than what your doctor does. If you do all the
same things, you will have all the same pain relief, or lack of.

You have to imagine it before you can make it happen. Imagine
hurting less and then make it happen. Stretch yourself-reach,
and grab handfuls of new stars. Go to a place you have never
been before. Therein lies the hope for real change, and a
better life.

Good light,

Dr. Tim Sams
My Pain Relief Doc
www.mypainreliefdoc.com

Copyright 2007. Dr. Tim Sams and My Pain Relief Doc.
All rights reserved. www.mypainreliefdoc.com

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You may freely distribute a copy of this newsletter or use it
on your web site or RSS feed, as long as you include the entire
article, along with the web links and copyright information.
Thanks, Dr. Tim
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