Road to Recovery

There is nothing worse then having to try and battle through an injury. This past week I managed to slip a disc in my lower back during and individual workout. We weren't doing anything out of the ordinary, it was a typical morning workout we have usually twice a week where we work on post moves and get up a ton of shots. Well this particular morning my back decided that it was not going to be happy with me and it crapped out. It was the most interesting and acute pain I had ever experienced. Sure I have been hurt before with sprained ankles and twisted knees but when your back goes out, GAME OVER! There is no comfortable position to sit or lay in and every little movement you make becomes unbearable. Ok enough with the self pity. The real theme of this post is a more outward looking big picture idea. In my case the set back or hurdle is an injury but in the World right now people are struggling with much bigger "injuries" in their daily lives. Mainly I look at the obvious economic situations that hit everyone very hard. There were some serious mistakes made by a lot of people on all levels. Some on purpose, or should I say done with what was thought to be good intentions, and some done without anyone's control. Much like what happens when an athlete is hurt on the court. When we get injured on the court there is an immediate response that usually involves the trainer and a bag of ice to try and immediately relieve the pain. That is what also happens in life. When we are hit with something that hurts us in our lives we immediately look for the first thing that will relieve the pain. In some cases this can be drinking, eating, or consumerism in excess all of which seem at the time to be the best way to dull the immediate pain i.e. the ice from the trainer. But none of these early treatments are good long term. So after the ice has taken affect and the pain has subsided, there must be an objective evaluation of the injury. Where exactly is the pain? What was the cause of the injury? During this period the trainer or doctor tries to get down to the essential parts of the injury so that a proper diagnosis can be made. This I think is the step that most people in dealing with real life situations have the hardest time with. Most often I think it is because evaluating yourself and what part you played in your current situation is something that people are just not comfortable or unable to do. In order to find the route cause of your situation you have to really dig deep and find where the problem started and what was the exact cause? Finally after a diagnosis has been given the treatment or therapy can begin but without an accurate diagnosis of the injury, the treatment can be rendered irrelevant. So if in my case the injury is to my lower back and after the trainer looked me over and tested range of motion and source of pain that obviously is radiating from my back and then says "Ok well looks like you hurt your back so lets do some exercises for your arms and see if that helps?" I would look at him and call him crazy. Well when you are unable to look at yourself and truly diagnose yourself correctly there is no way you can start the proper treatment or therapy to resolve the problem. Treatment can only begin when the true injury has been found. I guess my point in all of this is that in the last week I have really been able to see how much being hurt sucks when you aren't able to do what you love. There is nothing worse then having an injury cause you so sit out, because there wasn't necessarily anything that I did wrong. It just happened and things just happen in life too. But when we are able to dig in and really evaluate what we can do to make our current situation better that is what make us great. I am working hard to do everything I can to make sure that my back is stronger and healthier then ever so that I can continue playing ball. I know that there are situations in all our lives that happen and we just can't control, we all get injured but the thing we can control is what happens next. What do you do now to make sure that it doesn't happen again? Work to make yourself stronger and hopefully avoid future injury. There is no substitute for hard work and dedication.

"Life has no smooth road for any of us; and in the bracing atmosphere of a high aim the very roughness stimulates the climber to steadier steps, till the legend, over steep ways to the stars, fulfills itself." – W. C. Doane