Falling Forward

The fall I took in the parking lot that day ended up being far worse than I first realized. Like most of us, I told myself that it was just a bad fall. But by that first night of agony, it became pretty obvious that something was wrong. After quietly sneaking out of the house in the dim morning light, and NOT asking for help (sound familiar), I made my way to the emergency room of our local hospital. I had torn two meniscuses in my knee. If any of you have experienced this injury, you know that it is extremely painful – and it is more far reaching than one might realize.

Much to my initial chagrin, I was going to have to put aside my fierce independence and my fear and ask for help. I had gotten banged up, I was in pain, I couldn’t get around, and I needed help. This really forced me to ask the universe why was this happening. What were my lessons here? And to ask my body what it really needed? As I teach and know firsthand, the answers will ALWAYS (and I MEAN ALWAYS) come to us. Whether we care to hear them is a different story. So the answers came flooding to me (and are still coming!). I needed to slow down and to hold onto one of my favorite mantras, “The slower I go, the faster I get.” I needed to pay better attention to my joints and to switch things out in my training program. You see, I push myself. I always have and always will (at some level), and yet the body and the soul definitely kick back when they have had enough.

Injuries are gentle ways for the body to say, ENOUGH! Slow down – you must. I cannot take it anymore. So here I am on February 3rd, 2 months post surgery, still limping and yet loving my knee back to health.