Lessons Learned

Learn to say no. That’s been my lesson for very probably the last month. ‘Learn to say no.’ Because I haven’t been saying no. I’ve been getting in the car, and gardening, and digging, even when my body has been giving me signs to stop.

I’m not 18 anymore, and it’s time to let myself be 52. Because it’s okay to age. You don’t even have to do it gracefully. I mean, come on, it’s going to happen whether you like it or not. But when your body and your mind start telling you to slow the f*** down…listen.

I didn’t. I wound up in the ER with a back sprain that thankfully healed *very* quickly. I was digging in my yard, saw a tree root, bent over to pull it out and that, as they say, was that. My back screamed. Six hours later, I was out of the emergency room with a ‘scrip for muscle relaxers and painkillers.

NOW I’m slowing down. I’ve been diagnosed with RCT (rotator cuff tendinitis, which is about as much fun as it sounds), and a small amount of arthritis in my shoulder. So now I’ve got physical therapy twice a week and anti-inflammatory medication.

Getting old kind of sucks, but NOT getting old would be worse 🙂