Injuries and Good Vibes
The other day I got pretty injured.
I was swinging from a tree branch (that we'd already been swinging on for a while) and it snapped. I got dumped flat on my back and had to hobble home. I wasn’t able to sleep horizontally that night because my back, chest and shoulder were in too much pain. For a couple of days, everything was slow and everything hurt.
It was shit
The worst part, I had a trip planned to Lisbon in a couple of days time. I was so excited to explore my favourite city, do parkour and use my body to it's fullest extent. Of course this isn't possible after an injury.
For a little while I was bummed out pretty badly, but after 2 days of not being able to do anything other than think, I came up with some positive points toward being injured.
It’s not the end of the world
I’m injured. But at least I’m still alive. It could definitely be worse. And a few days/weeks/months of recovery is pretty small chunk of my whole life.
Opportunity to slow down and reflect
Getting injured always forces me to slow down for a few days and assess what went wrong. In this most recent case, I was training too often without taking appropriate rest days. I noticed myself getting a bit sketchy during the session. I wasn’t eating or drinking enough that day, I was probably a little bit hungover.
Everything was a little bit off and I ignored the signs. I wasn’t being careful or smart and I got hurt as a consequence.
Having the space to reflect and learn from this means that next time I can notice the signs and be more aware of myself before I get hurt next time. Additionally I can reassess my training habits, look at what was working and what wasn’t, and adjust accordingly
Time to focus on new and different things
Being injured gives us the time to stop and focus on new things. With the correct mindset, I think it’s still possible to grow a lot through injury.
Right now my movement is still restricted, but I spent the last days focused on drawing, writing and exploring my surroundings. Being injured takes you out of your normal rhythms and offers a rare opportunity to approach new things
Creativity through limitation
Taekwondo roughly translates to foot fist art… I think. When I was young and practicing martial arts I would frequently injure myself. Such is the existence of a kid getting into parkour and acrobatics.
Rather than offering sympathy if I would hurt my ankle, my taekwondo instructor would tell me I still had one working leg and two arms. Being injured doesn't necessarily end everything, it offers an opportunity to create around your limitations.
I have a friend who destroyed his ankle, so decided to get really good at handstands until he was healed. I have another friend who also really injured his ankles (there's a pattern in parkour), and decided to adapt his movement and develop a totally new style of training.
Injuries aren't limiting, they're just offering a new way of approaching things.
Increased motivation
For me, getting hurt leads to a huge boost in motivation whenever I eventually heal. Seeing other people moving and training and being able to enjoy their bodies makes me slightly jealous, and my mind fills up with ideas.
In the last week I’ve already healed so much. Getting hurt makes me aware of how much I really need to look after my body and remain as strong as possible. I feel a greater drive to stretch, eat healthy and get back to where I was, even push past it.
Despite being injured and still recovering, I’m having an amazing time. Arriving in Lisbon has been wonderful. The city feels alive and I’m able to move around freely. Every day the injury gets better and every day I surprise myself with how fast I appear to be healing. I feel very lucky and grateful.
Getting injured sucks. At least make the best of a bad situation