My dad is in the hospital recuperating from knee replacement surgery. I have never seen him in more pain. It has been tough for me to watch, and I am sure much tougher for him to endure. Yesterday, in the midst of a pretty intense physical therapy session I heard myself say, “Hang in there dad. It’s going to feel better when it stops hurting.”
If looks could kill, I’d be dead right now. Dad glared at me for a long minute before he smiled. I don’t think he thought my saying was very funny. But the therapist sure did. She said she loved the old adage and hadn’t heard that saying since she was a little girl. I told her I had heard it as a child as well.
I think the saying is a little bit funny because it sounds like it is encouraging, but I guess in the midst of terrible pain it is not, at least in the now. But it is true. The pain you are in right now will one day ease up and when it does, you are going to feel better. It might not be tomorrow or next week or even next month. But in most cases the pain will lighten and you will be able to feel better. When I went through a broken relationship several years ago, some good friends told me I was going to hurt for a long time, but the clouds were going to lift and I was going to feel better again. They were right. It took about a year for the darkness to lift all the way, but it did. So hang in there. If you are in pain right now remember the old saying, “It’s going to feel better when it stops hurting.”
