“The signature of your journey is inscribed in your soul”.
I had this as a journal entry from a few years back, so I am not sure where it comes from. It took me a lot of years to accept the fact that pain was a major player in my life. It angered me that I had to accept its presence and demands.
Viewing pain as a thread of my personal tapestry, I can see how my life has learned to weave in and around it and caused me to know and grow in new ways. I acknowledge the pattern that pain has woven in my life. And am thankful for some of the places it has forced me to travel, like pursuing my personal artwork.
I hope that for all of us who encounter chronic pain that we can see some beauty in the pain pattern of our journey.
Mary Byrne Eigel 
The pattern of my pain led me to blogging — and meeting a whole universe of people I never would have in my “real” not “virutal” life. A “beauty” of caring, funny, compassionate, passionate people.
And I am thankful for crossing your path in this journey. Blessings.