Joanne Smith explains why aiming for complete pain-free living sets you up to fail. Pain protects you; the goal is understanding its signals so it settles faster. When symptoms return, that's not failure—it's a normal part of recovery, not a straight line.
And Nicole Sachs has a lovely, well-known expression, and she says, there is no cure for human pain, but there is a cure for chronic pain. And I like that one because I spent a lot of time getting very confused, believing that people were saying that they were recovered and that they were pain-free, and I was like, I didn't quite get it because Pain-free is not possible. We need pain to survive. Like, it's there for a reason. But when you understand how the system works and you see that it's a sign, it's a protection, then it can settle down way quick. Way, way quick. So if symptoms are returning, then it's not— please don't see it as a setback. Please know that it's part of the, part of the crazy paving journey and it's not a linear journey and we can have, I'll call it a backslide, just imagine it in a nice way like slipping down a muddy hill, but you will get back onto the path and it's how you respond, it's getting back to the clarity.
