On March 5, 2013 I had the meniscus on my left knee repaired. The surgery went well and I am feeling better than I have in months. The doctor asked today was it worth it. "Yes, at its worst it has felt better than before." The challenge I had was that the surgery meant a few days couch time (not really a problem) and two weeks of taking it easy. No gym, no jumping, miss a meeting or two, and staying at home as much as I could. I did great the first week, Tuesday to Friday I did little or nothing. A trip to the kitchen, bedroom, and bathroom was about all. It felt great and I didn't take many (two to be exact) of the high power pain killers. Ibuprofen and ice were my friends. The second week I stayed out the gym but did go to work, preach on Sundays, and before the two weeks were up, I was taking apart the trampoline in my yard. Not exactly taking it easy, but one can only sit for so long.
This week (Monday) I decided I was well and needed to get back into it. So I went to the gym and did thirty minutes on the spin bike. No problem, Tuesday an hour, and today (Wednesday) I did my kettlebell class. This is when I was introduced to the consequences of my layoff. Other than walk around and eat and watch TV, I didn't do much. They gave me some exercises, but they were a little lame and I am not the most self-disciplined guy. So I had to decided, watch TV from my couch or sit on the floor and lift my leg or flex my calf. Not a hard choice. This morning's trip to kettlebells showed the error of that decision. I am sore. And I went light on the weights and skipped some ('cause it hurt, boohoo). So here we go, not exactly starting over, but I lost ground. I have work to do that I should have to do. I added a few pounds, and let my cardio get go. (I am amazed how fast that does go.)
The temptation is to say, "Oh, well, it was fun while it lasted." The couch is comfortable. Then this afternoon the doctor gave me the good news (or bad depending on how one looks at it), go to the gym and do whatever, no limitations. Skydive? You can go tomorrow. (The weather would not let that happen and they are closed tomorrow but that misses the point.) The only limitation was I needed to wait two more weeks to run. I am out of excuses. I might still not do the lunges and cheat on the squats, but other then that, I have to go to it.
I confess that at times I take layoffs in my spiritual journey as well. During my couch time I had lots of time, but I didn't do all the reading that I have committed myself to do. I got behind in my devotional reading, and my email discussions with a friend of mine. I could have read several books, but didn't do much of anythings. It is over a month since I blogged here. It was in some ways a nice relief, but now it is time to get back at it. Time to go. I have recovered and healed up. It is time to engage the brain, learn, think, grow, to head down the road on this spiritual journey.