I’m glad I caught your attention. Let’s begin with the fact that you don’t have to be injured, and the reason you have in your mind for reading this “Get Over Your Injuries” post holds true to that. It’s good to know you want to figure out how to fix your issues. It’s also good to know you can fix most of your issues if you wish to. So what I have for you here is a roadmap to lead you back to your better more functioning body. Remember, the one that used to make you happy when it worked so well for you before?
Don’t get me wrong here, I understand there are some situations where a traumatic brain injury can completely change the course of someone’s life. One example of that can be my cousin’s situation. Imagine a person in your life that you believe holds the most pure heart within them, always willing to give more than they receive, always taking care of themselves by doing all the right things, really going somewhere with their life… That was my cousin. Then she got into a terrible car accident that caused her to bang her head against the window hard enough to make her a vegetable in a hospital bed for the past few years. She can’t even talk. The doctors don’t understand how to fix what’s going on inside of her head, and unfortunately there are no known cures for a traumatic brain injury that severe. Now it takes my cousin two extra minutes to comprehend how to open wide when the nurse is telling her to open her mouth to brush her teeth. So let’s face facts and be grateful that the majority of us are not in that situation.
The first step to overcome an injury is to start where you are, and accept the fact that you’re injured. You might have a broken bone, a torn ligament, arthritis, back/neck pain, a hernia, sciatica, the list goes on. As a personal trainer, all of these examples are (in my professional opinion) very minor issues that can be treated/fixed with the right diet and training/therapy routine. Yes, you might need surgery for a broken bone, but post-surgery I would hope you don’t just dwell on your livingroom couch without movement as your ultimate goal. I also want to emphasize the word “routine” because nothing is going to get better after one day of stretching some tight muscles in your neck that might be giving you the pain in your foot. This is a process that needs your daily attention, and whether you are willing to take on the process is completely up to you. It could take a few weeks to get better from a sprained ankle, or it could take upwards of half a year to fully recover from a torn ligament in your knee. Either way, if you are not committed to getting better and would rather complain about it each day then nothing will get getter for you.
The information is out there. As the famous Will Smith says, “There’s no problem you can have that someone hasn’t already wrote about in a book.” The range of diseases/illnesses/injuries, whatever you want to call them, is very broad and wide, and it’s helpful to know there are other people with the same problems as you. By typing words into Google you can find all the information you can possibly imagine when it comes to most of everything in life. You can also go to your nearest book store, go to the section that sounds closest to what you are looking for (you can also ask the staff for help finding a book), and find whatever you need to know. So from here, my suggestion for you is to be your own doctor, do some research, and figure out what’s been causing these issues for you. Like I said, your foot pain could be the result of the tight muscles you’ve stored up in your neck due to lack of stretching. Whatever your case may be, sitting back popping pills will never be the solution to your pain.
Be patient. Some people like to go all out at the gym 8 days out of the week, and I’m here to let you know that isn’t going to end well for you if you don’t take the time to take care of your injuries first and foremost. I challenge you to get out of your comfort zone, and attack your injuries with the mindset that doesn’t care about how bad it might currently be for you because there’s a new day just around the corner. How you react to your situation is for you to decide. Our body’s were meant to evolve and to adapt to our environment, to learn how to hunt and catch our food, to be able to sprint half a mile in order to survive from predators; they weren’t meant to lounge around all day wondering why the world hates us. Let off some steam by making a commitment to yourself that says, “My body is my fortress. Today is the day I start treating my body with the utmost respect I know how to give. Every bone, every muscle, every cell in my body is under my control. I will use my body to create the most beautiful life that only I can imagine, regardless of any outside influence or disturbance. I have a vision of the future, and the future is well.”