It sucks being hurt. It’s been a while since I’ve had an injury that kept me off the court for more than a month, one that I can’t tape up and fight through, but this last month has been different. I pulled the muscles of my rotator cuff, and I have been nursing a sprained wrist, so I can’t play basketball and I hate it. I really shouldn’t complain because my daughter is rehabbing a torn lateral meniscus in her knee and she is a college athlete who was looking forward to her sophomore season, I am just an old mom who likes to play the game. Still for both of us, it has been difficult to be injured.
I have recovered from worse injuries in my life. A shattered right arm which included a torn rotator cuff for one and a broken leg, yet every time I battle with an injury, it’s difficult to stay mentally strong. Each injury I forget that in the beginning, and at points along the way, it feels as if I’m never going make it, that I’m never going to get better. And so each recovery I struggle for a bit, I go through times when I want to crawl into bed and pout. But then I remind myself that I will get better and to stay positive, and eventually (not soon enough of course) I start to see improvement.
In the end it’s about finding strength within and finding support from those around you, because recovering from an injury, or any hardship, can be a battle, not only for your body but also for your mind. My daughter got some bad news this week, her knee is not ready. She put in two months of rehab and it swelled up when she ran on it. There is hope that it may be healed for basketball season, but there is also a chance that she may need surgery. This news made it more difficult for me to drop her off at college to start her sophomore year, knowing she was going to have to go through preseason watching from the sidelines and doing rehab. But she moved on. She reached out for support from her coach and team trainer, scheduled physical therapy and got to work on her comeback.
This is life. There will be ups and downs, rights and wrongs and unknowns. What is important is to stay strong, find support and believe that no matter the circumstances, you must keep moving forward, because life is worth living before, during and after your comeback.
Stay strong and always believe in you!
