Three months of back pain: gratitude
“There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so.” – Hamlet, William Shakespeare
While struggling with the implications of my herniated disc diagnosis, I spent a lot of time thinking about the negative aspects. But every now and then, I discovered something positive as well. These thoughts have helped me to feel better and they might help you too, which is why I decided to share them here.
First and foremost, this was a much-needed wake-up call. I knew that I wasn’t prioritizing my health enough. Despite knowing that it was bad for me, I kept sitting for hours at a time, maintained poor posture throughout the day, never stretched, and generally just didn’t move enough. My comfortable old lifestyle always won out. But my injury and the associated fears of ending up in a wheelchair, suffering through chronic pain, or not being able to play with my kids are a powerful motivator. Suddenly, it became easy for me to make those much needed, but long delayed changes in my life.
Second, I began appreciating my health more. Confucius said “a healthy man wants a thousand things, a sick man only wants one” and so it was with me. Up until my injury, I thought of my body as well-functioning machine. It generally just did what I wanted it to and I believed this would never stop. As a result, I took my good health for granted. Thankfully, my injury reminded me to actually appreciate my health. Finally, I am grateful for the lack of pain, for how well the injury is healing, and for the absence of anything more serious.
Third, I connected deeply with a handful of people. Since my injury was top of mind, I brought it up with many people. Some of them shared their own stories of pain, injury, and fear. These conversations became deep and meaningful to us, they allowed us to understand each other better, and they helped us to connect on an emotional level. What’s more, I finally understood why some people obsess about their own health (which previously felt strange to me).
Recognizing these three aspects has helped me to feel a lot better about my injury. But later on, I noticed additional benefits:
- Trying out new activities: Since weightlifting is off the table for now, I got to try out new hobbies like swimming or yoga.
- Learning about the back: I’ve got interested in how the back works and started reading up on it. I enjoy learning about it and passing that knowledge along
- Better form and posture: I now understand how important maintaining proper form is in any activity and how I really need to pay special attention to it.
- Bodily awareness: I’ve started listening to the various signals from my body, instead of ignoring them. This will hopefully help me to avoid all sorts of injuries.
- Developing character: Going through rough times, coping with pain and fear etc is great for developing character. This will help me in even tougher times in the future.
Every time I look at this list, I’m surprised that even something as dreadful as a serious injury can have so many positive aspects.