I know I have taken my time growing up in a couple different ways, but I really should not have waited until 34 years old to break my first bone.   I broke my ankle while rolling in Jiu Jitsu class at Kogen Dojo, and it has certainly been a roller coaster ride of emotions for the last few weeks.  Fortunately, I have been pretty lucky in a couple ways.  For one, I just broke it, and didn’t tear any ligaments or anything, which would have required even more rehabilitation, and kept me out of business for much longer.  For another, having a fiancé who used to work in Orthopedics, meant I had an appointment two business days later, and surgery within a week of the injury.  And there has been support all around me the whole time, from all my fiancé has done for me, to friends offering rides or even lending a scooter and a shower chair. 

The first thing I have learned is just how much luckier I am than I ever really thought. I started to realize this with just how much luck played a part in my recent purchase of a house, and it has only doubled down with this injury.  It has been interesting to finally witness my perspective shift, and to watch the growth of that which I focus on.  It won’t ever be immediate, but I am really learning the exponential benefits of a growth mindset over time.  I have even heard of a study about this, where they left gifts and cash outside a building after quizzing the subjects about how lucky they feel they are.  Those who felt luckier actually found more of the gifts outside the building, despite them all being placed in the same location each time.  Focus on your blessings, and watch your blessings multiply …

Along that vein, it is also curious how sometimes even subconscious thoughts can become reality much more quickly than we ever imagined.  I had been working a lot of overtime before my injury, due to buying the house and getting married this fall, and had been thinking – dreaming – wishing about a break to catch my breath.  Well, it wasn’t how I would have planned it, and it was certainly much longer than I was hoping for, but I’ve certainly had a break.  There have a been a few times that synchronicities such as this have propagated in my life, and is starting to infiltrate my thoughts on perspective and fate.  Be careful what you wish for, because just like in jiu jitsu, you might get more than what you wished for.

And despite a few dark days, where I grew impatient to get back to the life I am building, overall I am surprised at myself for taking to this so well.  It has been difficult for someone who frequently builds busy-ness into his life to just rest and recuperate, but it has been good for me to learn to lean into that feeling.  And my dips into that depression have been much shallower than they might have previously in my life.  I have had to learn what are requirements for my day, and make sure to keep growing somewhere, even if I can’t physically do what I used to. 

Mostly though, I have really learned what Scott McGee of The Sisu Way has tried to teach …  that Health is wealth, and that Movement is a gift.  Even if you don’t have much else, focus on those blessings, and watch your life grow from there.