I had a bit of an accident the other weekend.
Looks like I’ve damaged a ligament in my ankle.
Happily nothing serious.
Now I’m not the type to enjoy sitting still,
so being told to rest wasn’t music to my ears ;-)
But it’s healing nicely now and there are already lots of exercises I can do again J
Reflecting on the last couple of days in my journal, it really reminded me of a client of ours…Tina.
Tina had a MUCH more significant accident than me.
We were out on a training walk in Yorkshire in February.
The weather was grim so we’d already decided to head back.
Tina slipped and fell, landing on her own leg.
Snap – straight break through both her tib and fib (both bones in her lower leg!)
Obviously, she was taken to hospital.
And she was eventually operated on, involving the insertion of a metal rod.
She now sets off every scanner when she moves through airports to go on holiday ;-)
But the reason for my blog today…is Tina’s attitude.
Now having both bones in your leg cleanly broken isn’t ideal eh?
She was (and still is) a very active lady.
A working mum.
A studying mum.
And someone who’s super-fit and really enjoys working out and looking after her body.
When something like this happens and makes everything STOP for you,
that can be incredibly frustrating…which I’m sure Tina would tell you, it was!
But it could have been a million times worse for her, had her attitude been different.
Tina, from the moment she started to recover, focussed on how quickly she would heal.
She focused on what she COULD do, not what she couldn’t.
And that attitude is HUGE when it comes to your emotional wellbeing.
She asked me what exercises she could do.
What equipment she could buy or borrow to help her keep moving.
She argued (literally!) with her consultant on the length of time predicted for her to heal.
He would say, 8 weeks, she would argue 6! ;-)
It helped that she was as fit and healthy as she was.
Although in her 40s, she had the physiology of a 25 year old…
and her body demonstrated that beautifully as it healed.
But it was her determined, focused, positive mindset
that made the biggest difference for her.
I learned an equation very early in my PT career from the a rather clever chap, Darren Tebbenham:
E + R = O (Events + Response = Outcome)
Events don't cause Outcomes. It is our Response to what happens to us that ultimately determines the Outcomes in our lives.
That same accident could have happened to Tina
and if her RESPONSE had been different, the outcome would have been too.
I always sum this attitude up as a “can do” attitude.
Whenever clients face challenges in life, I ask them what they CAN do.
It’s very easy (and human nature) to focus on what we can’t do,
especially when something like this happens.
But while events like this may stop us doing some things, they don’t stop us doing EVERYTHING
And it’s so incredibly important for us to focus on what we CAN do…and do it!
It gives us power and control in a situation.
It lessens fear and frustration.
It gives us optimism for a brighter future.
So whether your “event” be a damaged ligament, broken bones (!) or something totally unrelated to either,
when life throws its curveballs at you…
…have a really good thing about your RESPONSE to the event.
Don’t focus on what the event has taken away from you.
Focus on the opportunities it’s brought to you and on what you CAN do.
Remember, our response to events dictates the outcomes in our lives
Not the events themselves.
Be someone who gets the most from life, not a victim of the events within it.
Simply put, be more “Tina”
to create the best possible outcome to any event in YOUR life.
