It has been one month since I have run due to my injury. In that time, my workouts have been limited to using the exercise bike in my basement a few times. I am resting my foot as much as I can between chasing my toddler around the park and teaching Stroller Strides fitness classes. It has been a trying time. I longingly stare at the moms running with their BOBs around my neighborhood in this gorgeous fall weather. When will my damn foot heal?!? I keep waiting.
The mantra that has helped me both over the last few weeks, and over the last few years, is this: nothing is permanent and change is always happening. I know that I won’t always be dealing with this injury. Eventually my foot will heal and I will run again. On a cellular level, humans are constantly changing as cells die off and are replaced.
The world around us is always changing too. Summer suddenly turned into fall a few weeks ago, and with that came cooler weather and shorter days. Leaves turn on trees, snow falls down and then it melts and summer is here again. I have witnessed my tiny newborn baby become a little girl who runs and talks. Every time I look in the mirror, I find more gray hairs. There is nothing stagnant about life; it is constantly changing.
Accepting that nothing is permanent can be scary, but I have found that adopting this viewpoint helps me to deal with difficult times, whether it is an injury or something more significant. When I was struggling with a personal loss a few years ago, someone told me that it wouldn’t always be so hard for me and this was true. Our bodies are never the same from one day to the next. Streams flow into oceans, the wind blows in fields and volcanos explode. Our earth is one of constant change. The same is true in our lives.
A quote from one of my favorite books:
“The world spins. We stumble on. It is enough.”
― Colum McCann, Let the Great World Spin
So this is what I say: let this big beautiful world keep spinning and changing. I am here, along for the ride.
That’s a great way to look at things! Sorry you’re dealing with an injury…I had an ankle injury earlier this year I know how bad it sucks :-/
thank you! i am slowly getting better, but its been tough. i know its not forever though…
What a great perspective! Life is always changing and it is so important that we learn to adapt. It is futile and frustrating to drag our feet trying to ignore what is now. There are so many things that are just out of our control and we can fight it or we can go with it and find ways to make things work.
I really appreciate this perspective – actual living is accepting the movement from one moment to the next and not trying to hold on – isn’t it. I used to find the perspective that nothing lasts forever – so frightening – and now I realize that without change there is no growth – only stagnation. It has helped me to seek the gift in every moment – and not judge… as with everything — it is a practice. Your injury has given you the gift of slowing down… hasn’t it. Thanks for this post.
Awesome! Thanks for such a beautiful reminder about impermanence and yet, our ability to regenerate while alive. So many extreme sports are popular now and pushing ourselves beyond sometimes what is capable. I respect your desire to keep strong while admitting to a time to rest.