Sitting Still for Dummies

Sitting Still for Dummies

(Or how to cope with an annoying injury that’s driving you crazy)

Okay, somebody please help me out here.  I feel like I am once again forced to struggle with something new and foreign and nobody really left a set of instructions for me to follow.  I hate not knowing what to do.  But more than that, I HATE not being able to do anything.  Workout-wise, that is.

That’s right, I’m injured. My kneecap is not tracking properly and I can’t run, I can’t bike on my beloved hills, and I definitely can’t race.  Super bummer.  It doesn’t even matter anymore how I hurt my knee, (but just in case you do wanna know, it was from stupidity, not from overtraining…although that does count as a form of stupidity too) the point is, I can’t do what I love doing.  I told my best friend the other day that I felt like a kid who was prohibited to frolic around with the other kids in the playground.

Well here I am, cut off from my daily endorphin indulgences and sadly unequipped to remain stationary but forced to be so.  The thing is, you can’t stay mad at your situation forever (it gets boring too- for you and for other people) and I figured I probably won’t be the only one who will encounter this predicament so I have decided to be useful and share some of the little nuggets of wisdom I have come across in the past two months.  There is a book called “The Art of Doing Nothing” by Veronique Vienne and Erica Lennard and I must say it makes perfect sense to me right now.  I stole some of my favorite “art forms” from the book, mixed it up with my own findings, and tried to make it as dummy-friendly as possible for the rest-challenged personality.

“Being” is more compelling than “Doing.”  I grew up in a household wherein everyone was always preoccupied with either work, hobbies, or planning other diversions for work and hobbies.  It seemed like no one ever spent their waking hours wasting precious minutes on “trivial stuff.”  I thought this was how I should measure myself as a person, but I know now that I had it wrong.  My worth will not be lessened if I do more or less.  Personally I think this is where a lot of addictions stem from, because we feel like we shouldn’t be idle and if we are watching tv, or chatting online, drinking, smoking, etc. we feel like we are doing something, but we really aren’t.  We should learn to appreciate ourselves a little bit more, just as we are.

Adopting The “How Do You Know It’s a Bad Thing?” Frame Of Mind.  Can we really say with certainty that every single thing that happens to us is either good or bad?  Yes, I do feel left out when I can’t train, and it’s very easy to let negative thoughts pollute my psyche, but going with the flow of things is a much better alternative…further down the road know I will find out why this is happening right now, and it might even be good for me.

Sleeping and Napping.  I definitely have more capacity to produce quality work when I am rested and refreshed.  A clearer mind and a well-recovered body can do wonders.  I can’t emphasize this enough.

Unclutter.  A clean environment and a worry-free mind affects every single aspect of your life.  Meditate and hold a vision of your ideal self without all the inconsequential baggage that your harried lifestyle usually carries.

Learning Not to Feel Guilty.  Most serious athletes or people who work out regularly feel bad when they don’t get to work out.  But just remember that this is only a temporary and necessary thing.  Not resting will make your injury last longer, and that is bound to make you feel even worse.

Making The Most Out Of The Cards You are Dealt With.  Explore your options at this time.  What is it that you can work on while you are out of commission?  Maybe now is the best time to work on your strength and flexibility, areas that aren’t usually given enough attention when you are busy doing all of your other workouts.

Actually Having Fun.  Just enjoy this moment and spend it doing things you’ve always wanted to do on your own, with family, or with friends.  Yes, there is another world out there, offering so much potential for growth and happiness.  Borrowing the title of a great film, Life Is Beautiful…and it would be foolish to get stuck in a quagmire just because you fell into one for an insignificant second.