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My sister died yesterday. She would have been 55 years young next week. She fell down a flight of stairs and hit her head. Just like that – gone. Over the last five years, she battled breast cancer, marital separation after 32 years and her daughter leaving home for university (the last one is both happy and sad for her). She had just begun the journey of her second adulthood, a new adventure and a new life. When something like this happens, it really highlights the element of uncertainty that pervades our lives. Many of us go through the day comfortable in our routines and never think about the external forces that could change those routines forever….until something happens to create change. Living through adversity is hard at first, but if we are aware of the ways in which we grow and change, what is learned by living the hardship turns out to be more precious than that which was lost. Is this a fitness article? Of course it is! Have you ever had an injury that kept you from your fitness activity for a period of time? What did you do? Well, primarily you following your doctor’s advice (which is usually to rest for a period of time), right??!! Of course you did…. But then what? There are several alternatives to choose from when recovering from an injury. It comes down to mind set – are you going to let this injury defeat you, set you back slightly or are you going to use the recovery to grow and develop your fitness in other ways? Here are some examples: Defeat: “I am getting too old to do this activity”. “I get hurt whenever I do this activity”. “I better do something more gentle”. Set Back: “It’s only an injury. After I recover I will begin again”. “I need to find less risky ways to do this activity”. Opportunity: “I can’t participate in the activity during recovery, but I can spend the time learning more about the activity so as to get better at it”. “I can ask my doctor and fitness trainer if there are some complementary activities that I can do while I am recovering from this injury” (eg,, swimming if it’s a leg injury). Often, an injury can lead us to do activities that we never thought to do before. I once ran a marathon with a lady who ripped her Achilles tendon halfway through training. It was her first marathon and she had her heart set on finishing what she started. Her doctor told her that she would recover in time to do the marathon if she was careful. However, she would not have time to train properly after recovery. At first, she thought she had to quit. I suggested to her that she “run” in the swimming pool to keep her fitness level up while her leg was recovering. What I didn’t recognize at first was that her recovery time was going to be long enough that she would end up water running right up to the week before the marathon. She literally spent 4 hours in the swimming pool a couple of times before the marathon! (We organized a group of friends who were assigned times to be at the pool with her and help cheer her on). She finished the marathon strong and without injury! As the saying goes, she took a lemon and make lemonade. What an inspiration… What else came out of the experience? She began to enjoy swimming for fitness and continued to swim after the marathon in addition to running. She went on to compete in triathlons. So, the next time you are faced with a fitness or sports injury, think…..LEMONADE!
Article Source: http://www.bodyformind.com/db
About the Author: Ainsley Laing, MSc. has been a Fitness Trainer for 25 years and writes exclusively Body for Mind eZine. She holds certifications in Group Exercise, Sports Nutrition and Personal Fitness Training.
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