Pain Is Inevitable...

Suffering is Optional.
-Zen Aphorism


Yesterday I woke up with a migraine and was out of commission most of the day. This morning I woke up feeling pretty good so what did I think was a good thing to do first thing this morning? That's right, get my shotgun out and go shooting. My husband had the gun repaired a couple of weeks ago and has wanted me to take it out and test it so we went up to the gun club.

I nailed the first clay pigeon. I also did the following:

1. It had been so long since I've fired a shotgun I forgot two important things;
a. To make sure to hold the gun butt solidly against my shoulder when I pulled the trigger.
b. To put my face to the gun to at the same time.

2. When I forgot both, two things happened;
a. The recoil of the blast slammed the gun butt into my shoulder.
b. The recoil of the blast caused the stock of the gun (which my cheek should have been snuggled up against but wasn't) to slap me on the right side of the face.

Now, why doing these two things are bad:
1. Doing either one hurts.
2. I had a migraine yesterday.

You think I would have stopped at this point wouldn't you? You would be wrong. I shot once more making sure to put the gun butt securely in the crook of my shoulder and my face on the gun stock when I fired. It still hurt but not as bad as before plus I nailed the pigeon again. So I kept shooting and each time I fired the pain got less and less. By the time we finished the pain intensity I felt was just a faint echo of yesterday's headache.

I think I've found a new treatment for migraines.