When I was a kid I remember watching the Save the Children ads and wondering… do you adjust to pain and misery? Do you adjust to starvation and it eventually becomes the norm? This was partially a genuine curiosity about how our bodies work, and partially, I suspect, my way of dealing with this horror, making it less horrible.
I went on to apply the question to less horrible circumstances, but I continued to wonder… if you live with chronic pain, do you get used to it? I mean, does the pain disappear into the landscape of everyday living?
Now I am an adult, and I have endured some pain, and other unnatural conditions. And yes, we do some adapting, but my answer is… no. No. Our bodies do know what is normal, do know what is acceptable. Read the rest of this entry »
