Well I’m back from my holiday and am rested and ready for another day of battle against pain. I had a great time out in Vancouver where I was raised visiting my family and friends. It’s amazing how taking a little bit of time for yourself and your family can make such a difference. Even though my pain levels have been going up over the last four or five days I still feel better. Just the simple fact that your not thinking about it all day long, or explaining it to someone is enough to make a difference.

During the holiday I was able to see and enjoy all the great things that I have in my life in spite of everything that is going on. Sometimes because we live with pain 24/7 it’s easy for our minds to become clouded and focus on everything that we don’t have, or can’t do because of the pain. We can start to dwell on the negative if we aren’t careful. I’m not saying that this is something we do on purpose, but we become tired of fighting the pain and that’s when the negativity can set in.

It was great just being able to spend time, with those who are the most important to me. As I spent time with my kids, I could see in there eyes that it wasn’t about what I can and can’t do with them. It was about spending time with them and being there for them. I took my oldest girl to play mini golf on a day that I was feeling good. It was the highlight of the trip for her!! I can’t describe how good that felt inside to know how big an impact that made with her. These are the things that are important to me. I might have physical challenges, however it doesn’t have to put a stop to the full and rich life that I can live.

Having my child come up to me and tell me that I’m “the best dad ever”, brings a smile to my face and makes my day. I’m really trying to see all the huge blessings that I have in my life, and use them to there fullest. It can be hard at times to see all those blessings though because of all the turmoil that we go through in dealing with our pain.

It was just nice for a change to be distracted enough to be able to spend so much time thinking about things other than the pain!!!