Day 331: Learning to "dance in the rain"

Hello again,
Today I want to talk about something meaningful. You may be looking at the title and wondering what I mean so I would like to fill you in. There is a quote that I love and have been striving to personally achieve and it is "Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass, it is about learning to dance in the rain" I think on occasion that I have achieved this in certain circumstances but never fully as a lifestyle. So I have been trying to learn how to live this way-to be happy even during the "storms" of life. There will always be storms in life and we can't stop living while we wait for better weather so to speak. I have never stopped living when things are going bad but I have struggled to be thankful and upbeat during those times.
 The major "storm" in my life as I have seen it is the chronic pain and the long painful recovery from surgeries that I have been dealing with. I have been struggling to be happy and to enjoy my day every day while I am in so much pain. It is easier to have a good day when the pain isn't so bad but when it gets really bad-it does affect me emotionally. But I have been working to change that. This project has been part of my attempt to change how I react to the physical pain.
 The last couple of weeks I have noticed that I am finally starting to catch on. Last week in particular I noticed that I was in a lot of pain but I still found myself having a good day. I had a good day despite the pain I was in. I was able to be aware of and enjoy the good things through out the day and not miss them because I was depressed from the pain I was in. I have been noticing myself laughing more and not the fake laughing that I laugh but don't feel happy, but actually truly happy. I am learning to accept the pain I deal with and that it will always be there and it doesn't have to affect me emotionally. I am not saying it won't ever affect me because I know I will still become frustrated and depressed from time to time but I am able to "dance in the rain" most of the time. I can enjoy my life while I go through this "stuff". I am not saying I am now enjoying the pain because I very much don't and really dislike it strongly but I am just choosing to not let it ruin my day. I find that accepting the pain and not waiting for it to go away is a big help. I don't want to have a bad day every time I deal with pain because I have pain every day and then I will have a miserable life and I don't want that.
I think another big step is that I have to accept my limitations as well and stop pretending they don't exist because I just keep overdoing it and hurting myself and it does no one any favours. I have problems accepting limitations. I tell myself I am fine and convince myself I can do something and then I injure myself when I try to do it. I try to appear normal so people don't stare or wonder what is wrong with me. I try to fit in with other people so they will accept me and let me be their friend. But this has just caused me pain because I hurt myself doing stuff I shouldn't be doing. I also do stuff because I don't like to ask for help but that is another issue entirely. lol Anyways this is a bit off topic. Wow I am really sharing a lot tonight. I will probably regret posting some of this later. lol Anyways, I feel proud of myself that I am learning to "dance in the rain" and thankful for it because it makes my day so much more pleasent. It also makes me a much more pleasent person to be around too I think. lol I do like having good days. :) Thanks for reading my blog and for reading this post.