Finding Balance

I’ll be honest that I haven’t always been that great at finding balance in my life. I really try to have a good work-life balance and always a life-fitness balance.

When I first started my “fitness journey,” I say that loosely because I’ve always been an active person, just not always an avid gym-goer, I thought I had to do everything to a T. There was no missing a workout, no skipping, just constant consistency. Maybe that’s even what I needed at the time, we’ll never know. However, fast forward to today, and while I still typically workout six days a week, if it’s 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, or even 0 days that week, I’m not going to stress out about it.

So what changed? A lot of things…but this is probably the biggest.

I injured myself. I haven’t talked much about hurting my wrist, but I was lifting something heavy above my head (not in a workout) and felt and immediate pain in my wrist. I knew I had hurt it, but figured it was just a little sprain and I’d be fine in a week or two. Well, a week or two went by, and then a few more weeks. My friend who is a PT recommend I go get some x-rays and get it checked out. I went to the local Ortho Urgent Care here…long story short, nothing was broken, but they suspected ligament damage. We tried conservative measures, like having my wrist immobilized for 8 weeks. It never really seemed right though, and eventually I went to get another opinion at the Mayo Clinic, and had surgery to repair two torn ligaments.

There’s a lot more to that story, but I’ll leave that for another time. Long story short, having my wrist immobilized, then OT, then surgery and immobilization again (I’m still doing OT and trying to get full range of motion back), really changed my perspective on everything. I wasn’t capable of really doing much upper body work, and was really limited on what I could do. There have definitely been some rough times during the last 14 months, but overall, I’ve learned that there’s way more to being “healthy” or “active” than worrying about working out 6 times a week, or doing my ab workout for the day. What I also realized is that I love working out, because I love moving my body and reach goals. Sitting on the couch for 2.5 weeks after surgery not able to do much of anything was so hard on my body, because it was used to moving all the time! If you remember, once I had the stitches removed and wrapping from surgery I started walking. That’s all I was able to do, but I really enjoyed it! Walking is really great for you! In general it taught me that there’s way more to life, it’s about being healthy, physically and mentally. It’s about enjoying the time we have with family and friends, and making memories and having experiences.

Did it sometimes suck and still does that I’m limited on what I can do? I’d be lying if I said it’s been easy, but it’s changed my perspective on having to be perfect. I may not be able to squat 150 lbs anymore, or use 15 lbs for arms, but I’ll get there someday, and in the mean time, I’m doing what I can.

Do you struggle with finding balance in the “health” and “fitness” world. I’ve learned one size fits all isn’t a real thing, and what works for one person or every a lot of people does not work for everyone. Find what makes you happy!