#57 - Always look on the bright side of life

Sometimes unexpected things happen in life that stop you in your tracks and force you to deviate from your plans or your routine. This has just happened to me.  I have broken my ankle on a fitness weekend (hmmm yes I get the irony).  I have been told it will take 3 to 6 months to heal and I have a cumbersome boot (that I have named Bianca) to help me walk without pain.  Quite a mental test for me to look on the bright side BUT I thought it would make a good topic for a blog to force me to consider the positives.

For someone who loves walking my dog, works out nearly every day and does yoga twice a week and was training for a fitness competition – this has not been received well.  My first reaction – tears and tantrums, why me? life is so unfair etc etc typical drama queen antics. 

BUT – now that is out of my system, I am trying to change my attitude.  Wallowing in self-pity is not a good look and a complete waste of energy.  I am generally a positive person that embraces life so I need to find some positives from this situation - here’s what I have so far:

1.    They say 3 to 6 months as a guideline but I am determined that it will heal sooner rather than later with a positive attitude – that’s only 12 weeks which sounds better

2.    I can’t walk Teddy (my dog) but I can take her to the park and stand still throwing the ball and get creative with other games

3.    Although I can’t do a lot of my fave fitness moves, I can still go to the gym and modify my routine – maybe I will grow to love bicep curls (eugh)

4.    This is an ideal opportunity to practice some of my upper body exercises and nail pull-ups

5.    I only have to carry out beauty routines on one leg saving 50% of time as shorts weather approaches

6.    I have never had any sprains or bone breaks in all the years I have been on this earth which is quite an achievement.  So I should be grateful that it hasn’t happened so far which is a kind of miracle given all the physical activity I put my body through! (thanks Dan for this one, it really helped me put this into perspective)

7.    I got to see an X-ray of my ankle bones for the first time ever which is fascinating but the best bit was seeing that the broken bone looks a bit like a male body part (LOL so immature). See the blog image

8.    Maybe this experience is telling me that I should slow down a bit (but I pretty sure I will forget this one very quickly once I am fully able!)

9. I am grateful that it wasn’t a worse injury - I am told that breaking a bone can actually be better than tearing a ligament and that this particular bone (lateral malleolus to be precise) is ‘a good bone to break’

10. I can get away with not doing stuff and it’s not seen as ‘grr she can’t be arsed’, it’s seen as ‘aw she needs to rest’ YAY!

So if something bad happens, however terrible it seems, try hard to find a positive way to look at it. Life is unpredictable so never take the things that we can do for granted.