Injuries

For many years of my Kung Fu journey,  I have been struggling with shoulder injuries.  It is not an acute injury but a chronic one, meaning I’ve had it for along time.  Luckily it hasn’t been bad enough to totally limit me, it just causes pain in certain positions and certain activities.  I have went to acupuncture, physiotherapy, chiropractor, and massage over the years but it has never completely healed.  I finally went to my doctor about it and Tuesday I go for X-rays and ultrasound. 

So why did it take so long to go to a doctor?  I thought I could do it on my own, it wasn’t acute so it must not be too bad, and so on.  Just excuses.  I was and am scared. I’m scared they won’t find anything and say it’s all in my head.  I’m even more scared that they will find something that will impact my future.  My doctor had said “be prepared that you may never do a push up” and that really bothered me. But the real reason it took so long was that I was also not ready for this journey.  Being scared has held me back.

Now I am ready.  I am ready to accept the help of my doctor instead of trying to do this myself.  I have been training but being mindful of discomfort verses pain.  Discomfort can help build you back up, pain will set you back.  I am trying to push myself a bit further each week without over taxing myself which will cause another setback, I have had too many of those already.  Why?  Because I wasn’t being mindful of my body.  I thought I could fix it myself.  That is why I will honestly say that I did wall pushups or something else modified because if I can’t see these as successes, how can I confidently work through this?  Hiding or exaggerating won’t help me or anyone else struggling with an injury.

I do not know what the future will hold but I am ready to find out what I’m working with.  I may not be able to totally fix my shoulder, but I can build it up to the strongest it can be.  I want my Kung Fu to be sustainable so I need to know I can continue it even through any injury.  I just wished I would have asked for help sooner. Maybe that is the biggest takeaway.  Asking for help is not a weakness.  Recognizing that you need help and taking action is the biggest thing anyone can do for success, whether dealing with injuries or something entirely different.  We are all in control of our own journey.

See you on the ‘virtual’ mats!