Being Grateful for Past Injuries

 Earlier this year I started a daily practice of writing down three things that I was grateful for.  I try to do this without thinking too much - just write down what comes to mind as soon as pen hits paper.  By allowing my thoughts to flow I find that I am often surprised at what I end up writing down.  Today was no different.  As I was writing my list the last one that came to me was "I am grateful for the injuries I have had because they have taught me how to heal" - and I sat with that for a few moments.  

I am training to run a half marathon in a couple of weeks, and for those who have known me on my running journey, I have sustained a couple of pretty decent hamstring pulls that have sidelined me from races in the last few years, and those injuries stemmed from ignoring the clear signals that my body was sending me.  SLOW DOWN.  GET MORE REST.  BE GENTLE WITH YOURSELF.  YOU DESERVE TO BE TAKEN CARE OF.  Instead I pushed past these messages and feelings until my body decided that it would do what it needed to do in order to make me stop and pay attention.  (Sadly, this needed to happen more than once for me to fully comprehend and really internalize the lessons.)  When I started to notice a few pangs and twinges here and there over the past few weeks, I definitely put my spidey senses into high gear.  I had a bike fit done to ensure that all of the time in the saddle wasn't causing issue (it was).  I started to pay more attention to stretching and other prehab/rehab practices that I had let fall away over time.  I also started to ensure that I was actually taking rest days, and really resting on those days.  In a short period of time I could feel a change and reduction in concerning sensations, and could feel my confidence in the approaching race day increasing.  

Had I not gone through those prior injuries, I would probably have not paid enough attention to these warning signs and would have just pushed through instead.  I would have probably made it to race day and then had a tough race and uncomfortable recovery afterwards.  Instead I was able to use the uncomfortable lessons of the past to help me move through similar situations in my present, and thus avoid new injuries.  

I can think of so many other times in my life where I have gone through a tough season or experience, and have struggled to see a positive of what I was faced with.  It is so difficult to keep an open mind during hard times and to believe that we are laying groundwork for our future selves to be helped or healed.  Often when we are in the midst of a challenge we are too focused on the work at hand to imagine that we are also teaching ourselves how to cope and providing ourselves with new ways to problem-solve that we will rely upon down the road.  I can honestly say that I would not be the person I am today without all that has taken place in my past, and for all of those tough times and lessons learned I am truly grateful.

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