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Tag: chronic pain

red and black love print on gray concrete floor

Reclaiming the Old You or Building the New You?

Posted on April 26, 2021January 7, 2026

Life can really throw some curveballs at you, can’t it? One minute you’re standing on a mountaintop and then the next, you’re cast down a deep, dark hole somewhere, wondering if you’ll ever see the light of day again. The speed with which this can happen is what makes a return to your former self…

brown hen on grass field

The Last Rotisserie Chicken on Earth

Posted on April 25, 2021April 25, 2021

When I’m not eating ice cream, the one other food that has served me well during this prolonged battle with nerve pain, has been the rotisserie chicken. God bless the rotisserie chicken. And it can’t just be any rotisserie chicken either — it has to be an unseasoned, totally plain one from Hannaford’s, and eaten…

black and white mountain painting

Clawing Your Way Out of the Hole

Posted on April 24, 2021October 20, 2025

You’re alone. You’ve been thrown down a deep dark hole somewhere and no one can find you. Nobody’s coming to help either. It’s not that they don’t want to or don’t care, it’s just that nobody knows how to solve the riddle of your predicament. It’s not like they didn’t try either. They gave it their best effort. But the nature of your problem doesn’t fit into a box that anyone knows how to unpack yet, so they turned their attention to those they can actually help. For now, you’re on your own.

This hole you’re in can take many forms: chronic pain, mental health issues, addiction, grief, you name it. It doesn’t matter how you got you here — you’re here. At the bottom. It’s so dark. The reality of your situation upends you and you collapse on the ground in a heap. Distraught and broken, you find yourself wishing for the cave to close in on you and just get it over with. But it doesn’t. The damn walls never budge.

photo of person reach out above the water

Give it Your 1%

Posted on April 21, 2021January 7, 2026

When you really hurt you don’t care much about the fun you’re missing out on. You don’t care about going out for a drink, or making plans, or really anything, because all of your attention is focused on getting through the next moment and trying to curb the pain. All-consuming pain makes everything else feel…

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Love the mountains? 4000s by 40 is a story of missteps, hard-earned lessons, and the mountains that shape us.
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