Tuesday, February 24, 2015

Move Forward in Pain and Weakness


Feeling a bit scraggly?

Dear friends,

Welcome back to my Move Forward series! The other posts so far are:
I've talked about moving forward in various situations, but today I'd like to touch on pain and weakness. That describes my life right now. As I mentioned in my last post, I am recovering from an auto accident over three weeks ago. In the middle of my hectic life, this is slowing me down big time! Everything hurts, from the headaches at the top of my head to the shooting pains down to the soles of my feet. It's the worst pain I have felt in my life except for childbirth. Not everything hurts all the time, but something always hurts up and down my spine. And because of that, I'm not sleeping well at all during the night. And because of that, I'm often quite fatigued during the day. And because I can't keep up enough around the house yet, it's easy to get discouraged and even depressed. (Yes, I am getting appropriate medical treatment, and yes, I have a lawyer. I will be so glad when I don't need either anymore.)

I know that so many of you have experienced seasons of pain and weakness, too, whether physical or emotional or both at the same time. (That would be me.)

I also know that when we are facing a stressful season like this, the temptation is to shut down, to become paralyzed and not want to do anything for ourselves or anyone else. To be honest, there are extreme times when we shouldn't be burdened with doing anything but cooperating while others care for us. However, most of us can do something to not only take care of basic daily needs, but also recover through healing and strengthening our bodies and souls.

I'm talking about moving forward through the pain and weakness, and then out of it. That may not be entirely possible, but we should look for progress, even if it is stop-and-go, three-steps-forward-two-steps-back at times.

It means I can rest, ask for help, lower my expectations, and grieve my limitations - but still figure out what I can reasonably do. I don't want to get stuck here. I want to get better.

My chiropractor recommended that I get back to the Y and try using the elliptical machine since it is low impact on the joints. We went on Saturday. I was going really slow and for only a very short time as compared to what I could do before the accident. It was uncomfortable, but I could do it without screaming pain. One of the professional trainers who has worked with me before has offered to rework my Fitlinxx weight circuit routine to accommodate my vastly reduced strength and range of motion. I'm not quite ready for that, but hopefully soon. I'll ease into it with the elliptical machine and walking around the neighborhood a little while longer. (I will NOT walk the dog. She pulls too much for my poor back.)

It's also hard to sit up long enough to home school my youngest daughter or work at my desk or drive around town running errands. But you know what? I have to do it anyway! Somebody needs to work on insurance papers, record expenses, rewrite the kids' chore chart (delegation!), keep school records, teach math, read stories, chauffeur kids, and buy groceries! That would primarily be me! It's a privilege, really. My family is so worth it. I'm glad I can still do what I do, but it takes a lot out of me and I don't get as much done. And then I take naps.

Baby steps! Slow and steady wins the race!

I've been writing this in short bursts. Now I'm hurting again. I need to quit and go lie down.

So...

The end!

Grace and peace,
Virginia Knowles

P.S. #1: You might also like to read about weakness in this post: Power: What Price and Purpose?

P.S. #2: Remember the picture of the scraggly plant at the top of this post? I took it while out slowly walking around the neighborhood on Sunday morning. Withered leaves or not, it's got fruit on it! That's what I hope for as this mom grows up!


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