Tuesday, December 20, 2011

and this is why you should set goals.

In October, we were riding in the car, which at the time was HORRIFICALLY uncomfortable for me because sitting hurt my low back so badly.  I was in treatment at the chiropractor and miserable about it.  I told Adam that my goal was to get better by my birthday (Dec. 5th) because I didn't want to start year 30 with a hurty back.

He told me I was crazy and that setting a goal like that wasn't smart because I can't control my body and the healing process.

Obviously, I told him I thought that was dumb.  But at the time, I didn't have any reasoning behind it.  Now, after rehabilitating to the point where I think I'm at about 98% (every now and then I'll feel a little twinge but it's nothing like the 24 hour a day pain I was having for so long), I can say that he was completely and unequivocally wrong.

The body responds when you have a goal and a timeline.  My goal was in such a tight timeline that it convinced me to seek out physical therapy and find doctors and a PT that were more in line with my body philosophy, rather than wasting thousands of dollars getting "stretched out" on a chiropractic table. It helped me to get back into my yoga practice and to use it in more of a healing way.  I'm no medical professional but I think a lot of pain is your mind's reaction to what the body is feeling.  By taking a more proactive approach to the pain and healing, it was much easier to deal with and eventually recover. If I hadn't set my own timeline and goal, I'd probably still be visiting the chiropractor three times a week and feeling miserable.

Even if December 5th had come and gone and I were still having issues, it would have been okay!  It's fine to occasionally not meet a goal.  The point is to strive for the impossible and to dream big.  No offense, husband, but I'm glad that I didn't let you discourage me in this case.  Having a positive attitude and my own deadline was precisely what I needed.

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