Dealing With Obstacles

We're nearly half-way through February, and so nearly half-way through the challenge. For me, personally, I've been dealing with a bit of a wrist injury - not bad enough to completely shut down the kettlebells, but enough of a nag that I have to take it easier than I had planned. My original idea of using several different weights had to be modified, so I'm using a lighter weight, but still doing the reps. The biggest challenge with that is that it feels a bit like a cop-out.

I haven't exactly run into this kind of obstacle before - a nagging injury - so I've had to do a bit of soul-searching. It looks like my wrist is able to tolerate some light duty, but I don't want to aggravate it or make it worse.

Our bodies are not invincible, and we are subject to damage from a variety of sources - bumps and bruises, slips and falls, accidents, or even damage from improper training or excessive strain on joints and limbs, or simply overuse. And it appears that increasing age makes your more vulnerable to these things.

Nevertheless, I realized that, if I had been unable to keep going with the kettlebells, I could have switched over to swimming and just done more of that than I usually do. But it would have been disappointing. I suspect that disappointment or frustration is probably the biggest obstacle we face, because they represent our response to our situation, as opposed to the situation itself. So I may have a mild wrist injury, but the difference-maker is my attitude about it. And I'm not here to say I have the perfect attitude, but I think my attitude is more realistic than it used to be. Reality demonstrates that we WILL face obstacles when we step out and put effort into improving our wellness. We will need to overcome them. And the more difficult obstacles, IMHO, are really our attitudes.

I don't have the magic answer for you, but my encouragement would be to be careful if you experience an injury or run into a difficult obstacle. Be careful with your body. Allow injuries the healing time they need. Adjust your plans if necessary. And remember that your attitude about the situation plays a key role in determining how well you get through the situation. So try to be kind to yourself - you are trying to improve your wellness. You should be proud of yourself.

Keep up the good work. Only two weeks to go!