This morning I went running for the very first time since I injured my knee in October. It’s been four months since I had any kind of physical activity that wasn’t specifically rehab. My toes were freezing in my Vibrams (35-degree weather!), but I didn’t care. I was running through a neighborhood I had previously avoided because it was the only one available to me this morning, but I didn’t care. I had to wear this goofy hooded sweatshirt with the drawstring edge tightened around my face in order to manage the cold — I looked like a complete goon! — but I didn’t care.
(Note to self: Buy cold-weather Vibrams, or wear sneakers in the winter. BRR!)
I ran, or whatever you want to call my jogging / barefoot running hybrid. There wasn’t a lot of pain and it didn’t feel a whole lot different than it used to feel. There was none of the bad pain. The muscles around my knee are weak, but they work.
Happening as this does at the beginning of TED week, I have to draw a bit of insight from it.
No matter how bad it is, it doesn’t last forever.
My anxiety for awhile was that my knee wouldn’t ever work right again. And even now, at about 95%, I worry a little that maybe I won’t ever be able to bend my knee as far as I could before.
But that’s probably not true.
As long as we’re moving forward, we’re changing and growing (even if we don’t notice). Our bodies heal themselves — including our brains. We push ourselves and listen to ourselves and things get better. Our environments shift and present new challenges. Before we know it, everything is completely different. The old problems don’t stick around for long. Why should they? There are always new and better problems to solve.
Eventually, my knee will be fine. Then, I can focus on something new.
Except that I was already focusing on something new — and that was when my knee got better.
What do you make of that?
Megan Elizabeth Morris (aka MEM, Megan the M.) is a bonafide professional catalyst and adventurer. She's the Ideaschema instigator, orchestrator and autodidact, and you can find out more about her by clicking here.Got an idea? Something we haven't thought of? Whatever you're thinking, we want to hear it. Please feel free to leave comments or email us by clicking here.
