I am working on accepting my chronic knee pain (previous entry). I am not sure how to go about doing that. It is hard for me to understand the difference between accepting the knee pain (which is a neutral circumstance), and accepting the pain with all the baggage it comes with. Here are some of the thoughts I have about knee pain. These thoughts feel intolerable to me. So it’s hard for me to accept the knee pain because if feels like I have to accept these thoughts too.

This knee pain means you can’t have the life you want.
This knee pain is going to limit your athletic and dance pursuits.
Your knees are permanently damaged which means the pain is permanent.
It is always going to hurt a lot when you squat down. You can’t even pet your dog.
You did this to yourself and you are a terrible person.

I am working hard to change these thoughts but they are very ingrained. How can I accept the pain without accepting these thoughts?

Thanks.