Mindfulness and a broken pinky

I'm typing this with a broken finger. I've recently been getting back into BJJ, but ironically, I injured myself while I was out trail running yesterday. I'm beginning to think there's someone out there with a voodoo doll and my name on it!

I'd just about got over the problems with my abscessed tooth and I'm still working on my post chemo health and fitness. Two miles into my run yesterday, I tripped on a rock and fortunately - or so I thought - I landed on soft ground. Not so fortunately, I broke my fall with my little finger, which twisted at an angle it's not designed to twist. I dusted myself down, inspected the damage (it did not look good) and carried on with the 4 miles back to the car.

X rays later confirmed my fears and I now have a splint on my left hand. After the year I've had, I wasn't even that surprised. So it's back to showering with a carrier bag and, sadly, no jiu-jitsu for a while.

I'd been thinking, before my latest escapade, about what a shit house life can be sometimes. APML is, at it's most basic, caused by a mutation in your DNA. You could be as fit and health conscious as you like. Eat your 5 a day, get your steps in, avoid all the risk factors, all it takes is a little abnormality as your cells regenerate. The lottery of life is a difficult thing to get your head around. Good people die needlessly every day. Bad people seemingly thrive. I suppose no one ever said this game would be fair!

That said, the loss I've experienced over the last few years has made me realise something. There's not a lot life can throw at me that I can't cope with. I'm still here. I'm still healthy. I have a tremendous amount to be grateful for. 

It's difficult, at times, to find a reason for the random and chaotic nature of our existence and we are cursed, in some ways, with the ability to contemplate it. However, there is meaning to be found in suffering. Don't dwell on what you've lost, don't be apprehensive about the future, find peace with what you have right now, in this moment, because it's all you ever have. 





 

 

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