Injured Strength!

Ankle, I'm sorry:(
Resting miserably!

This summer has been a bit unusual in that I haven’t been my active self. Since as long as I can remember I’ve been a kinesthetic person, always running and jumping about. I think I’ve played just about every sport at some point. In primary school it was all about the track and field, sprint 100 meters to long jump to high jump. I had long legs for my age and although I received some interesting nicknames because of them they served me well when it came to the field. Thank God for my limbs! Wait, I can’t forget about all the extracurricular that my folks had me enrolled in before high school. There was the usual affordable stuff, swimming lessons and gymnastics, which lead to figure skating for the one and only year I could stand it. The figure skating was the last straw for me. No more sports for the sake of activity. I wanted to do something with my body I loved.

So in high school I danced. It was my sanctuary away from all the cognitive pressure that I felt in all my braniack classes. I also went on to be the captain of the volley-ball and ultimate Frisbee team, while playing a bit of b-ball just because I was so tight with the coaches, not really because it was a favorite.

This is all just a backdrop for why I’m writing. All this activity growing up taught my body that I needed to be active in my lifestyle. I took this into University, taking a couple more dance classes and getting more into the typical cardio one day, toning the next.

Yet in this past year I’ve been a bit sluggish. My body still seems to respond well to jumping in at a game that’s happening but I’m not as enthusiastic about the idea of getting up really early to go for a run. I was talking with a few girlfriends the other night, chatting about all things girl; menstrual cycles, baby making, high school wounds and victories, fashion, BOYS of coarse and body image. We were saying how for the most part the outer parts of us don’t seem to be reflecting our lack of activity much but it’s our insides that are noticing. We just feel more, BLAH! Whatever that translates into English.

There’s a reason that we are to take care of our bodies; they’re a Temple. Not only do they house the most incredible beauty in the world, God, but they also host us, our inner pieces. As a bigger picture, they are one part of a larger body. Each of us makes up a whole body of people and only when we are healthy can we all function as a whole, in unity. I know that’s a bit more ‘spiritual’ but isn’t the practical also spiritual? It’s all interconnected to me.

This said, as of June I had set a goal for July, before my trip overseas to bike to work everyday instead of transit. For one it’s good for the environment and two it’s good for meJ I also wanted to get out and play some soccer. It was the one sport I didn’t really have a chance to get into growing up but who wouldn’t enjoy running across a huge field for hours and kicking stuff? Okay so maybe some, but it sounded like a blast to me. Plus the World Cup probably contributed to my interest this year.

I did end up riding my bike and finally played a game of soccer. Last night I went out to play my first real (kind of) game of footie. It was a dream. I arrived to four teams to choose from, shirts or no shirst, by default of being a lady I got shirts. I think the ratio of guys to girls on the field was about 15:1. My first instinct was I can’t wait to show these guys I’m just as god as them. Oh that pride. But right in the middle of the final game for the win I got two pretty crappy injuries to my left leg. A kick to the quad muscle and then another to the ankle, right in the joint! I had to sit the end out and it was so frustrating, I don’t know what hurt more, my injury or the smack to my pride.

Also, just last weekend my bike was mangled by some jerk who attempted to either steel it or ran it over. My repair guy can’t tell. I forgive that jerk…urg! Today, I’m bikeless and taking the day off to ice and elevate. For me there’s nothing worse than having to sit still when all I want to do is play. There’s nothing I can do to get me out of this injury except rest. Oh that word, rest. Look, I’m even writing about it because I’m hoping that it will fix as I type so I can get back out there in the world where everyone is frolicking in the sunshine. At least in my head they are.

It’s often not until we can’t do something or can’t have something that we realize what was possible before the break.

If you have fully in tact limbs be grateful today and go on a run for me. This has made me realize just how much I miss the freedom of playing when I want to. Girls, lets start those pilates we've been talking about when I'm over this hump!

I guess my strength will have to learn something from the weakness I’m feeling today.

"But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise;

God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong." (1 Corinthians 1:27)