​Once again you find yourself at the walk-in clinic. Being seen by doctors in their offices or in an emergency room happens frequently for those with chronic pain,  illness, or emotional pain. What can begin to happen is that you develop fear of something happening that lands you back in the hospital.
 
The majority of doctors and nurses that you encounter are usually thoughtful and kind, but there are those, well, how shall I put this, they must be having a bad day and you just happen to be the unlucky recipient of gruff manners and eye rolls.
 
It’s like they see me coming. I’ve moved onto their plate. One more patient to care for in addition to the countless number that they are expected to see each day.
 
And then there are the tests. And the tests. And the tests that medical staff administer to you. One more poke. One more x-ray. One more blood test. All with hopes of finding a way to remove you from their to do lists.
 
But though a gruff encounter is not the norm, it can happen enough times that you begin to fear going in. Sometimes that can actually be a good thing, because you don’t need to be running to the doctor for every little thing. But there’s real danger when you begin to ignore real warning signs and do nothing to treat a problem before it’s blown up in your face.
 
And then there’s the people who are trained to help with emotional pain. You walk into their offices and fill out one questionnaire after another so that a therapist can find out what is upsetting you.
 
For the most part, just as with medical staff, therapists and their counterparts are genuinely kind and caring people. But sometimes. Sometimes you walk into their office on a day when they have too many people on their plate to help, that they may listen to you, but really they’ve begun to tune you out.
 
I don’t mean to fear going to an appointment, but it still happens. So, I sometimes wait too long before seeking help. What can we do then to move us from fear and to a sense of trust of the medical profession as a whole?
 
Healthyplace.com gives insight into the problem, and plans you can make to help minimize your fears in their article, "5 Ways to Cure Hospital Anxiety, Surgery Fear, Fear of Medicine."

Now that you know some reasons for this anxiety and have done some planning ahead, you will be less likely to be fearful. Just as the Bible verse above says finding counsel and advice will help you to be more successful when seeking help.

​Though this may seem like an odd topic to discuss, boredom can be a real enemy to those with physical or emotional pain with the loss of normal areas of our lives.
 
Perhaps you can no longer work.
 
Perhaps you can’t even venture far away from home.
 
Perhaps you find yourself over thinking about your disability.
 
Perhaps you feel you no longer have a purpose.
 
Perhaps you think there’s nothing you can contribute.
 
Perhaps you want to just give up on life.
 
These are all pitfalls that we can find dragging us down when our old routine is no longer possible. We just feel stuck and nothing feels interesting any more. And when we’re being dragged down, it makes our emotional pain increase and it becomes all we think about.
 
Yet, even if you can’t find fulfillment in your current life situation, there are ways to lift that boredom off your shoulders and throw it to the ground.
 
Wikihow.com has some great ideas such as learning a new skill and doing something you've been putting off, in the article, "How to Overcome Boredom.”
 
You can see that even though you no longer lead a “normal” life due to a chronic condition or emotional pain, there are ways that you can resolve your boredom and not be a restless wanderer as the Bible verse above says.

​Someone told a lie about you and you discovered it. Out comes the revenge card.
 
Someone stole your idea and took credit for it. Out comes the revenge card.
 
Someone made fun of you in front of others. Out comes the revenge card.
 
Your spouse cheated on you. Out comes the revenge card.
 
In each situation above, you felt anger, frustration, humiliation, you couldn’t believe it happened to you. But it did. Now you have all of these feelings boiling to the surface, yet you don’t know what to do with them.
 
I guarantee that even if you were able to get back at the one who hurt you, it wouldn’t make you feel any better and it may even make you feel worse. So what do you do with the card in your hand? Drop it.
 
That’s right. I said, “Drop it.” But won’t letting the other person off the hook make it like as if they got away with it? Maybe. But if you don’t drop the revenge card your life will slowly build up with acid and it won’t be burning anyone but you.
 
Many times, I have found, the other person is going to circle around and find themselves reaping the consequences of their decision.
 
But in the mean time, what do I do to get rid of the revenge I want? Find some suggestions from wikihow.com in their article, “How to Avoid Taking Revenge,” such as leaving everything to time and rising above any wrongdoing.
 
Remember that by not taking revenge into your own hands it leaves room for God to avenge you. He will help you forgive the offense and the other person will face the consequences ultimately for their unkindness toward you.

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​Gray - It’s not black. It’s not white.
 
Lukewarm - It’s not hot. It’s not cold.
 
Bland - It’s not spicy. It’s not sweet. It’s taste is gone.
 
It’s not joyful. It’s not sadness.
 
It’s not pleasant. It’s not ugly.
 
It’s flat. There’s no feeling at all.
 
This is an emotional state called Anhedonia.
 
Occasionally we may be in a numb state where we’ve been bombarded by so much anguish that we no longer feel anything at all. But this is the face of an emotionally healthy individual, because it only happens once in a while.
 
However, with a person who has Anhedonia the numb state lasts for a very long time and sometimes the individual never feels anything again.
                                              
Though Anhedonia can be part of a major depressive disorder, healthy-holistic-living.com, in their article, “Anhedonia,” helps us understand the difference. They also discuss signs of the condition such as a flat mood and loss of interest in normal activities.

If you experience these symptoms the first step is to see your physician who can then refer you to a psychiatrist. The psychiatrist will decide what the next action in treatment will be. Treatment options can be found in the article, “Anhedonia, Diagnosis, Treatment, Recovery Period,” on epainassist.com.
 
Though it may feel like an impossible task to make any progress in treating Anhedonia, with God’s help, there is hope that gladness and joy will return and that you’ll find the sorry and sighing fleeing more frequently.