I have lived with Chronic pain, in some fashion, for as long as I can remember. My earliest memories mostly involve me reporting that things 'hurt'.

As such, I have developed long standing coping strategies to deal with and endure chronic pain. Lately, as my life has started to become more and more complex, and the demands on me both physically and psychologically become more pronounced, my pain has increased steadily. Compound this with a tapering off of substantive pain relief medication, and I'm having to make the difference somehow.

I've discovered that one of the ways I have learned to live with chronic pain is concentration. The more completely I am able to think about something, the more distance I am able to create between 'me' and the 'pain'.

This is why I reddit. It gives me something to concentrate and focus on when I would otherwise have little to occupy those parts of my mind. I also write, a lot, and the more thoroughly I am able to abandon other considerations and write, the more complete my relief.

To this end, I also meditate, extensively. I am a Buddhist, I formally converted several years ago.

What about others; you? Does this resonate with your own experiences?