On Being Patient with Your Body

I’ve been playing sports my entire life. From the time I was old enough to walk, I loved throwing, catching, hitting, and to a lesser extent (since I was a chubby kid) running. I was never the best at any sport, though. There was always someone bigger or faster or more skilled. What I did have in my favor, was the trait that all hustle and heart players have: a reckless regard for my own safety and an inherent urge to throw my body around like a ragdoll. I’d dive for flyballs, slide through grass, dirt, or mud, and jump over (or attempt to jump over) any player or obstacle in my way. It got me a lot farther than my natural skill would have. It’s also something that I’m dealing with ten, fifteen, even twenty years later.

Back when I was a fearless youth, I could break my bones, skin my knees, and concuss my brain to my heart’s content and I was back in the fray in a week or two (sometimes with a cast on, usually with a couple of fewer brain cells). Even after I first hurt my back in high school it was just a short stint on the sidelines before I was ready to throw myself at whatever was in front of me. Now, as an adult, I’m having to learn an entirely new timetable and the patience that comes with it.

As many of you know, since I don’t think any of my readers are under 25, when you’re an adult and you hurt your back, or you pull a hamstring, or you roll your ankle, unless you’re a professional athlete with an elite medical staff at your disposal and millions of dollars worth of equipment at your beck and call, you have to settle into the healing process. If you’re like me, and movement and sport are ways to decompress and enjoy your free time, this new timetable can be pretty dang challenging.

I’m now dealing with my second back injury in the last few months and while it’s nothing serious, it is a serious bummer. However, the silver lining to this cloud is that it’s teaching me a few lessons (that I already know of, theoretically, and is making me practice them in actuality). First off, patience: giving my body the time it needs, and not the time I think it deserves, to heal. Secondly, maintenance. When you’re a kid, you just get up and go. You can be sitting on the couch one minute, running flat out, spinning, jumping, and juking with nary a consequence! Now, getting my body going is like getting the spaceship ready for launch. There’s a phonebook-sized training manual that details all of the specific stretches I have to do in what order and with what amount of hydration…and if the weather looks like it’s going to be bad, you gotta scrap the whole process and try again next month.

I know it only gets worse from here, but I’m hoping that my understanding, my patience, and my dedication to maintenance continue to get better, because man it SUCKS to deal with nagging injuries!

Do you have any tips and tricks on taking care of yourself as you keep moving and aging?