Gardening with Pain - And it feels so Good!

Ok, so I just finished "weeding" 9 Agave Americana Variegata pups out of one of my 2 patio pots. So many pups were squeezing out the mama plants and they were both starting to look forlorn. Time to wean all these babies off the main Agaves.

The pots are too big for me to easily move so I decided to take my wee work stool and trash bag (empty cactus mix bags make great trash bags after) to the pot. Keep it simple, save my shoulders, follow easiest course of action! Of course the mid morning sun added to the joy since both pots were sitting directly in it.

An hour later, sweat dripping off my head like I just ran the 1 mile derby as a thoroughbred and only one pot done... Not to mention the numerous spider egg sacs I removed and the guilt I replaced with pleasure when i saw the large gnarly looking brown and black spider that climbed off the pot eventually... I helped her off to a planted rock so as not to engage in a turf war.

Where does pain come into play in all of this? Well for starters one "weaned" pot was just enough for me to realize now was a good time to stand back up before my knees totally locked and reality set in that my husband wasn't home today to help me get up. The fact that both my digging tools broke making the task more complicated was additional incentive.

But the pain in my knees still felt good. You see I can get this pain sitting too long doing nothing as well. Or sitting too long at my computer and then my hips rebel by refusing to work or I have to push on my sac joints with my fingers with each step I take.

So coping with the pain I get ANYWAY is sweet when it comes with accomplishment.

Let's stop and stare at that sentence for a moment. Break it down. Pain is sweet? Yup. Mean's I'm still alive. I'm still going. I'm still putting in the good fight.

Today I did not give in to my Crohn's Colitis, My Ankylosing Spondylitis or my Fibromyalgia. Today my "eases" are just there. I acknowledge them, work with them and then frankly ignore that I have them.

My mantra for the month of July is "Accept What Is". Accept the pain and garden anyway. Because gardening gives me something pain tries to take away. Joy. Soul nurturing joy.

If you have a chronic illness or two or three (deep hearty head shaking laugh) do life anyway. Accept What is...find your joy.