Hi and welcome back to Second Chance to Live my friend. I am happy to see you decided to drop by and visit with me. You are always welcome at my table. In a few of my previous posts I have shared that I am a student of the martial arts. For the past seven years I have been training in Jun Fan Jeet Kune Do from 4 – 6 times per week. Approximately 6 weeks ago I started having pain in my left calf muscle – left lower leg. The pain would become pronounced when I engaged in high impact activities.
To make a long story short, I saw my Sports Medicine Dr. and he gave me some stretches to do, thinking that my discomfort was coming from my calves being tight. I worked on stretching my calves, but the stretching seemed to irritate the muscle. Consequently, I set up another appointment to see my Dr. and at that appointment he told me that I needed to cut back on back on my workouts. Between the martial arts school and the YMCA I have been working out between 9-10 times per week.
I am in the best shape than I have ever been in my life, however I have come up against another wall. I am going to turn 51 next month and my body can no longer be pushed as hard as when I was a younger man. At my appointment with my Dr., he told me that I needed to cut my work outs back to 3 times per week. As you might imagine I was initially not happy with these instructions, as they would interfere with my training at the martial arts school for 2-3 months.
This past Monday afternoon while working out at the YMCA the need to heed the instructions was reinforced. While executing front kicks on the heavy bag the pain in my left calf became evident – once again. In order to heal I would need to eliminate impact activities in my workouts and cut back to working out to 3 times a week. In the aftermath of my realization, I made a hard decision to stop training at the martial arts school for the next 2-3 month.
After I made the decision to take a break from training at the martial arts school and to heed my Dr.’s instruction I started looking for ways to use my time. In the past several days I have found strong encouragement because of my decisions. I am encouraged because I have set some goals and I look forward to working toward accomplishing those goals over the next 2-3 months. Serendipitously, I have been given the opportunity to expand my horizons.
Today’s Thought
Our plans may not be the best plan. As we trust the process more is revealed. When we let go of our plans we become ready… to see the possibilities. The gift — once hidden — is revealed in serendipity.
“When one door of happiness closes, another opens; but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one which has been opened for us.” Helen Keller
God grant me the serenity to accept the things that I can not change, change the things I can and the wisdom to know the difference.
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