My body has an Achilles heel. Okay, I guess technically, it has two Achilles heels. But, I’m speaking metaphorically here. The weakest point of my body is my lower back. I hurt my back, somehow, in my early twenties and since then (hello! two decades ago!), any time I allow myself to be stressed, I can pretty much guarantee that my lower back is going to give out on me. There are all kinds of things I can do to reduce the risk of this happening…drinking more water, exercising more, getting enough sleep, etc., etc., etc. And I know that the extra weight I’m carrying does not help at all, but I’m trying to do something about that.
Yesterday morning I woke up and went for a 3.1 mile walk. I was so proud of myself for the distance (I’ve been working up to it for a few weeks) and the fact that I walked faster than I have in a long time. I felt powerful, and hopeful, and all kinds of good things. Two hours later I was flat on my back in significant pain. I don’t think the walk had anything to do with it (in fact, I think it’s actually helping me recover sooner). I’ve been really stressed the last couple of weeks and I twisted wrong when I was loading the dishwasher before church.
So, here it is the first official day of summer break (Gracie says the weekend doesn’t count because they have weekends off from school anyway) and I’m sitting on the couch with an ice pack hoping that my back heals in record time and I’ll be back to doing the summer things I want to do with the girls. I hate that this happened now – I feel like I’m wasting the beginning of summer break. Steve reminded me, though, that it would have been worse if it had happened next week when I’m planning to go to my sister’s house to pick up my nieces for forensics camp. And, it would have been much worse if it had happened last week when I was photographing a wedding. So, definitely, it could be worse!
And, while I do feel like I’ve wasted this day, there’s a lot be thankful for, namely two little girls who are snuggling up with me and watching TV while I work. I’m thankful that today I can sit up and work so I don’t have to take a sick day and I’m thankful that I can at least walk around a little bit without shooting pain. I’m thankful that Steve, amazing husband and physical therapist assistant that he is, knows exactly what to do to help me get back to normal as soon as possible. I’m thankful that today I don’t have to get the girls anywhere and that we can all take it easy. So, maybe I need to change my thinking. Maybe this day isn’t wasted. Maybe the only wasted day is the one that I don’t give thanks for my many blessings….
(The picture at the top is the Super Moon from May. I took the picture from the bridge by our house…yet another blessing that I get to live in such a beautiful place!)