Way down in the dumps due to neuropathy pain. Woke up at 3:30 and couldn’t sleep. This makes me depressed. It is a vicious cycle I find myself in. Still 3 weeks before I see the neurologist and 2 weeks before I try acupuncture for the first time.

I cannot explain what this kind of pain is like unless you suffer from it. It starts from your feet and travels up your body. You want to escape but there is no exit. So you just lie there and suffer.

I had taken a pill for it at bedtime, but it wore off.

All I can say is that this is gonna be a problem from here on out. It will take time to process this “new me.”

The young hawk lit on my chimney cap to eat some prey. Since I have a skylight, I could see its body move as it ate. I moved my head to get a better look and immediately got dizzy. So much for that move!

The mental wrappings have come undone and all I have left to work with is the pain and depression arising from it.

How do I manage to get back to my former life? I don’t.

This is my new normal, as they say. One that includes all kinds of unwanted pains and feelings.

I have spoken with Don Theo via email and his advice is to BE not think and to practice gratitude.

Thinking is indeed useless in alleviating pain.

Gratitude is something I am not that good at when the pain hits. But that is my spiritual practice now.

Vicki Woodyard