Aches and pains...

  Whenever I think about pain, I always think about that robaxacet commercial. You know the one, with the Marionette getting jabbed with the pins?
"I ain't no voodoo doll, asshole, cut it out!"

  I always felt vaguely sorry for this little guy. Good marketing? I suppose so if I'm plugging their product on my blog right now. Sneaky ad execs... They know their business!
"Well played, you cunning bastids. Well played."

  I'm certain that advertising is how the world is truly being controlled by a nefarious and exceptionally evil bad ass!
"I own this game. It's still awesome after a decade. Shut up.  Don't judge me."

Also note the marionette allusion. Yeah, I'm pretty pimp like that.  

  I digress yet again. 

Pain. We notice it as we are getting a little bit older. As a kid and a younger man I used to define pain by colour; a gash on my arm was a reddish yellow fire. Nausea was always a pea soup green. Dull aches and older injuries are still the multi hued thunderclouds of an old bruise. 
"You can't really see it but this is my broken toe injury. In my mind. Stop judging me."

 These days I use the pain scale. One to ten. Nice and simple. I believe most of us live in the one to two range of aches, pains, throbs and maladies. Manageable and tolerable. Three to four is uncomfortable. Five to six is getting Intolerable. Seven is trouble. Eight would be agony. Nine means you should be in a hospital about three numbers earlier. 
  Mostly I live in the three range. Some days are really good and all is well, other days can drive one to distraction... Such as right now.  I'm writing because I can't sleep. The body pain is a vocal four and not letting me sleep. It happens sometimes. No sweat, that's why God, in all his wisdom, created Advil! It's science. 
  Writing is an excellent distraction and should help put me back into a sleepy mode as well, or at least that is the hope. 

  I have decided to list off my injuries...
Lets take a top down approach, shall we?
-Torn retina
-broken nose 
-partially crushed trachea
-pinched back nerve
-a vertebrae I can move around (its gross, trust me)
"I'm so damn hungry right now!"

-scarring on my elbow (cupital tunnel)
-hole in the heart
"A little duct tape and its all good"

-broken hand
-busted tail bone
-torn rotator cuff
-knees are ruined
-broken toe 
... And that's all of it. Some scars here and there but nothing that causes present discomfort. 

...
I just re read that list. It's kind of depressing.  I suppose the positive spin is to say I have lived a life worth living. Most of these injuries, if not genetic, were earned through career or sporting activities. Martial arts, mountain biking, volleyball and hockey all played their parts. 
  One of the things that keeps this list small and the pain scale low is in fact keeping fit. You have bad knees? Yoga and/or martial arts that incorporate full body stretching will help you out. Good for the immune system as well. 
  I'm a fan, can you tell?
"Why are we all kicking like this?!?" "Because it's badass, that's why!"
"Oh... Uh... Ok."

Physical activity is definitely a must as we grow and mature and yes, even age. *gasp* that happens???
Apparently it does. So if a battered old war horse like myself can go for a long stroll or throw 30 pounds of weight in a back pack and go mountain biking, then I think anyone can go do something to get the heart rate up. 

 Take a walk and think about it, gentle reader. 





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