From Fighting Pain to Living Well: Joletta Belton’s Shift

When pain makes life small, fighting harder isn’t always the answer.
Former firefighter Joletta Belton shares how she stopped “going to war” with pain and rebuilt a bigger life around it.  What you’ll learn:
• Why the “fix pain first, live later” plan keeps people stuck
• How acceptance/willingness differs from “just live with it”
• Practical ways to reconnect with values when activity is limited
• Using relationships and peer support without feeling like a burden
• Managing the inner critic with self-compassion that actually sticks
• Whole-person care: biology matters—and so do context and meaning If you work with complex pain—or you’re living it—this conversation offers a humane, evidence-aware path forward. Next steps: Subscribe, share with a patient or colleague, and see links below to join our community and explore Pain Practice OS for clinical tools that blend science with lived experience.Pain Practice OS Joletta's Substack