Total hip replacement

Exactly one year ago I had my left hip replaced and seven years ago to the day my right hip was replaced with a device that has now been recalled.  I have mixed feelings when it comes to invasive procedures.  If I did not have these surgeries and a few others I would be a crippled alcoholic.
When do we decide to allow a person we barely know to open us up and trust them to right what is wrong?  The answer is pain.
For people with osteoarthritis pain is part of life.   You wake in the middle of the night and amble to the bathroom with a sailor's rolling gait to pee.  Doesn't everybody hurt when they get out of bed or walk down a flight of stairs?  I thought so.  I was a bit surprised when at age 43 I was informed that to alleviate my inability to bend over and tie my shoe or sleep without taking ibuprofin I would have to undergo a rather inconvenient and invasive operation (two of them it turned out - and possibly three).  I assumed that everyone I knew who was active was experiencing bone on bone pain in their joints.
Pain is relative and we do not have the ability to experience each others discomfort and therefore I don't know what level of pain you are currently feeling.  It is, however, safe to assume that many people are in pain that is either physical, emotional or often times a combination of the two.
It is important to remember this when interacting with people.  Pain is debilitating.  Pain is distracting and pain is unhealthy.  In a gym most people are nursing an injury while trying to engage in an activity that is designed to prevent further damage.  This is an interesting paradox.  I used to think that if I wasn't in pain I wasn't working hard enough because it is easy to associate pain with effort.  This is a self-destructive misconception.   There is no such thing as "good pain."  There is only pain and the lack of it.