An End In Sight

I've been dealing with a toothache now, for about a week. I finally went to the dentist yesterday, so I am now on medication that is helping the infection. Anyway, one of my co-workers was asking me how I was feeling (since getting my prescription). I commented to him that last night, before the medicine had kicked in I was still in a lot of pain. But that, to quote myself, "it was easier to deal with the pain knowing that there was an end in sight." Hmmm. . . Right after I made that comment it got me thinking about other "pain" in my life. Emotional pain, for example. The pain of losing Jamie. The pain of not getting to see Tia everyday. The pain of not being able to conceive up to this point. . . I think the statement could apply to emotional pain as well. If I knew, for example, that we would for sure get pregnant at some point in the future, it would be a whole lot easier to deal with the current unsuccessful attempts. Or, if I knew that Jamie would come back into our life at some point. . . or even if I just knew for SURE that he was going to be OK where he is at, maybe the pain would be easier to deal with. Same could be said of Tia. . .

I wrote the above paragraph last week. Currently, the medicine is working on my toothache and I feel much better now. But to take my analogy one step further. . . It is amazing how much easier it is to get through my day now that the pain in my tooth is gone. Everything is easier. Just simple daily tasks took everything out of me last week because most of my energy was devoted to dealing with the constant pain. Now, it is like I can see/think clearly again and life is definitely more manageable. But now I am imagining what my life would be like if the emotional pain was healed, as well. . . How much easier would it be to get through each day? How much more energy would I have? How much of a better wife, mom, worker would I be?

Maybe I just overanalyze everything. Or maybe God used a toothache to encourage me to deal with the hurt that I've experienced over the last couple years. Or maybe a little of both. . .