Some people age gracefully, others disgracefully, while some others obtain continual panel beating so that they can look like a younger model. While watching sporting bloopers over the holiday time, I realized that people are continually inventing new and creative ways of hurting themselves. Obviously, their misfortune was other people's amusement.

When a person has the misfortune to get run over by a truck, they are treated to a ride in the back of an ambulance, surrounded by surgeons and nurses, while pictures are taken of every part of their anatomy. A person who arrives at a social function with their broken leg dragging behind them as they maneouver their crutches through the crowded room, will receive lots of sympathy from all of their mates. If the same person was to arrive at a function suffering with mental pain or emotional exhaustion it is likely that they would receive some sympathy initially, but if they still have the same emotional pain a couple of months later people start to lose their compassion.

Unlike a visible injury, emotional pain can remain for years and even intensify as the person grows older. Bones can be set and all sorts of disease treated except emotional pain. It's a very lonely disease which most people would struggle to adequately describe.

Pain is a part of life which no-one is immune from, and sadly it's not just the problem but how we actually deal with the problem that's important. Just a couple of thoughts: ~
- It takes a long time to get that bad so expect the recovery to take time
- What doesn't destroy you will make you stronger
- You almost never get better alone
- There are people who can be trusted, people are not all the same
- There is a living, personal God who will be there when you are ready to turn over control