when you live in pain mode for a long time, your mind starts shrinking everything down to “right now”
how to get through today
how to make now bearable.
how to keep functioning till bed time.
that’s not a tragedy – it’s what chronic pain does.
it eats your future so you can stay alive in the present.
if longterm thinking feels impossible, it’s not because you are a loser.
it’s because youve been carrying too much for too long.
what you need first isn’t a five year plan.
it’s enough space – emotional, physical, mental – to breathe again.
once survival loosens its grip, the future slowly comes back into view.