*originally written for Ms. In The Biz 12/17/13*
The past few months I’ve been working out a minimum of 3x a week, taking probiotics and a few other natural supplements that my new therapist has prescribed, spending time with my spiritual community at Agape, and making a nice income from advising crowd funding campaigns, with the occasional awesome audition or acting opportunity popping up.
That all sounds great, and it truly is, but for some reason I still don’t have this whole self-love / binge eating dealio in check. I know it’s a process, and processes take time, but I’d really love to be over this stage of my human development.
But some things just take time.
For instance a few days before Thanksgiving, I got injured at my morning boot camp class. Long story short, it’s a group of friends who do a cross-fit style class but with the use of monster tires, and ropes in an outdoor park in Burbank. I set myself up wrong for the last exercise of the day, a leg press (I’m good at leg presses), but instead the 350 pound monster tire came crashing down on my face and chest. At first it was comical; I lay there as if in a cartoon, invisible under the tire, with a tiny voice yelling “Help! Help!” My work-out partners came to my rescue and I brushed it off and finished the last round for the day.
Not until 2 hours later, when I saw my swollen forehead and eye did I realize this wasn’t funny, I was injured. Not until 2 days later, of repeat confusion, dizziness, making wrong turns while driving, and crying out of confusion and feeling scared, did I realize this was serious, and a friend convinced me to go to the ER for X-rays and a CT Scan.
Luckily, nothing was broken or bleeding inside and the diagnosis was Concussion and Chest Contusions (fancy word for bruises) and the prescription was rest. Serious rest, not just take it easy, but the kind of rest where you keep the lights off and lay in bed and just sleep. I couldn’t do many emails, or my head would pound, and I didn’t even attempt to read a book, so I was forced into a resting mode for about 5 days, including Thanksgiving Day. In the dark, with nothing but my 2 kitty cats to keep me company.
A situation like that puts a lot of things in perspective. One, you realize that you do, or maybe you don’t, have a core group of friends that you can count on to be by your side when you’re in need of someone to just sit by your bedside and hold your hand. Two, you realize how quickly life can change. In a moment’s notice, things I took for granted, like texting with my thumb at super-human speeds, were increasingly and frustratingly difficult. Three, the world will function without you; you CAN take a break and unplug. For me, it also made me realize how grateful I am to have the intellectual capacity I have. I take for granted my intelligence, my quick thinking, my incredible multi-tasking skills… and I often forget that those aren’t things that everyone has.
It’s been a little over 2 weeks now, and I’m still processing it all. I’m running at about 85% brain capacity now. I still have some aches and pains, and I’m still trying to take it easy. I’m really looking forward to the upcoming holidays. I’ll be spending 3 weeks back east with all 6 of my nieces and nephews, and cannot wait to slow down and enjoy the time with those precious little ones.
My perspective and outlook on not only my own God-given skills, but on the pace of life, and daily activities has really been shaken up by this injury, and I’m sure there are many more golden lessons to come from it. I hope it doesn’t take an injury for you to appreciate your gifts, so let my injury serve as a reminder to all of you.. to appreciate yourself, your gifts, your uniqueness, to make sure you surround yourself with friends who will sit by your bedside and hold your hand when needed, and to honor this amazing brain and body we have all been given, by allowing it some REAL REST time, a real unplugging.. because it’s in the UNPLUGGING that we truly Re-Charge.
The past few months I’ve been working out a minimum of 3x a week, taking probiotics and a few other natural supplements that my new therapist has prescribed, spending time with my spiritual community at Agape, and making a nice income from advising crowd funding campaigns, with the occasional awesome audition or acting opportunity popping up.
That all sounds great, and it truly is, but for some reason I still don’t have this whole self-love / binge eating dealio in check. I know it’s a process, and processes take time, but I’d really love to be over this stage of my human development.
But some things just take time.
For instance a few days before Thanksgiving, I got injured at my morning boot camp class. Long story short, it’s a group of friends who do a cross-fit style class but with the use of monster tires, and ropes in an outdoor park in Burbank. I set myself up wrong for the last exercise of the day, a leg press (I’m good at leg presses), but instead the 350 pound monster tire came crashing down on my face and chest. At first it was comical; I lay there as if in a cartoon, invisible under the tire, with a tiny voice yelling “Help! Help!” My work-out partners came to my rescue and I brushed it off and finished the last round for the day.
Not until 2 hours later, when I saw my swollen forehead and eye did I realize this wasn’t funny, I was injured. Not until 2 days later, of repeat confusion, dizziness, making wrong turns while driving, and crying out of confusion and feeling scared, did I realize this was serious, and a friend convinced me to go to the ER for X-rays and a CT Scan.
Luckily, nothing was broken or bleeding inside and the diagnosis was Concussion and Chest Contusions (fancy word for bruises) and the prescription was rest. Serious rest, not just take it easy, but the kind of rest where you keep the lights off and lay in bed and just sleep. I couldn’t do many emails, or my head would pound, and I didn’t even attempt to read a book, so I was forced into a resting mode for about 5 days, including Thanksgiving Day. In the dark, with nothing but my 2 kitty cats to keep me company.
A situation like that puts a lot of things in perspective. One, you realize that you do, or maybe you don’t, have a core group of friends that you can count on to be by your side when you’re in need of someone to just sit by your bedside and hold your hand. Two, you realize how quickly life can change. In a moment’s notice, things I took for granted, like texting with my thumb at super-human speeds, were increasingly and frustratingly difficult. Three, the world will function without you; you CAN take a break and unplug. For me, it also made me realize how grateful I am to have the intellectual capacity I have. I take for granted my intelligence, my quick thinking, my incredible multi-tasking skills… and I often forget that those aren’t things that everyone has.
It’s been a little over 2 weeks now, and I’m still processing it all. I’m running at about 85% brain capacity now. I still have some aches and pains, and I’m still trying to take it easy. I’m really looking forward to the upcoming holidays. I’ll be spending 3 weeks back east with all 6 of my nieces and nephews, and cannot wait to slow down and enjoy the time with those precious little ones.
My perspective and outlook on not only my own God-given skills, but on the pace of life, and daily activities has really been shaken up by this injury, and I’m sure there are many more golden lessons to come from it. I hope it doesn’t take an injury for you to appreciate your gifts, so let my injury serve as a reminder to all of you.. to appreciate yourself, your gifts, your uniqueness, to make sure you surround yourself with friends who will sit by your bedside and hold your hand when needed, and to honor this amazing brain and body we have all been given, by allowing it some REAL REST time, a real unplugging.. because it’s in the UNPLUGGING that we truly Re-Charge.