Constant anticipation of change

Chronic pain can become the greatest and strongest teacher of all. It catches you many times unprepared, sometimes weak after a long hard day, sometimes in the middle of the night and it can easily grab your attention and bring all your dark daemons. Bring all the fears and self-pitty. If you let it, you can spend in this dark state hours getting both your pain and your mindset worse and worse by thinking all the negative things about your state. And how can we make this state even worse? When we anticipate that by doing X, Y or Z we will get better. That after I will take this treatment, or I will change my diet this way, or taking this pill or this exercise on regular basis I will get better. We undergo these anticipations and when results does not prove to be fruitful, it gives to our daemons superpowers and makes our thoughts even darker. Failure after failure you must learn to stop constantly anticipating a change. That does not mean losing hope, but it means that whatever you do, you literally must accept any state it will provide. Accept it and be fine with it. Will it worsen the situation? Good, you know this one is death end. Will it make it better only temporary? Good, maybe there is little clue. Nothing happens? Good, time to try something else. You literally must stop constant anticipation marathon for the sake of maintaining your sanity. By accepting any state you are in, you are not letting your daemons in. Start by observing what situations trigger the daemons to get in. Then with compassion accept any state you are in. If you are dealing with chronic pain, many times it will be unpleasant but there will come time when you will be fine again and those daemons will go away. Time can heal any wounds. It is not easy, but it is truly a Stoic practice we can all learn.