Today’s post is a reminder. It’s a reminder to celebrate the little things. It takes a lot of small steps and mini goals to hit an accomplishment. To some outsiders – maybe even to yourself – the small steps and the daily goals may not seem like a big deal. But I’m here to remind you to celebrate the small victories, because those small victories stacked side by side are the building blocks to something great!
For me, this is not always easy to remember. Oftentimes, it takes something pretty drastic for me to remember and remind myself to appreciate and celebrate the small accomplishments.
I have previously written about my hip issues and the surgery accompanying them. It turns out my pain stemmed from a femoroacetebral impingement (FAI) that caused pinching, and eventually tearing, of the cartilage of my hip. The surgery required repairing the cartilage, and apparently a torn ligament as well, and grinding down the hip bone to prevent this from happening again, and any further damage. I had that surgery a week and a half ago. My recovery so far has gone fairly well, minus not being able to move much and having to rely on every other person around me for help. The couch and I have become one entity. Crutches have made their way back into my life and I feel just as strongly about them now as I have in the past (we’ll just go ahead and say I am not fond of them – please feel free to use your imagination as to what I would really like to say about them). This time around, though, I am also not allowed to drive – it’s amazing how much we take our bodies for granted until something happens and we have to make adjustments. Besides going half stir crazy, I have tried to take solace in the little things I am able to do, and look forward to healing and improving my health.
Just yesterday I went on a block ‘walk’ (let’s be honest: I huffed and I puffed and I crutched my entire way there). Also, as part of my recovery I have to use a stationary bike with no resistance in order to loosen and strengthen my hip joint. I am up to 10 minutes a day.
Upon feeling excitement through these small accomplishments, I was also reminded of the first time I ran a half mile after my foot fusion surgery. The recovery was brutal and long, but the day I ran just a simple half mile I was over the moon! I don’t think I’ve celebrated anything quite as passionately since then. Until now. I forgot that that’s where the magic really is. It’s the one-day-at-a-timers.
It’s these tiny, minuscule, minute victories that I look forward to. Sometimes we get so caught up in our big, long-term goals that we forget to acknowledge the path that we have to take to get there. We forget to enjoy the journey, which is (in my opinion) more important than crossing any finish line or hitting any goal. For if we don’t enjoy the journey, or at least appreciate it, the process loses value. It might be hard, it might seem unlikely, and it might just plain suck, but the journey and the process is what builds us. I feel like that goes for any life goal.
I look forward to the day when I can celebrate running a half mile again. And I look forward to be able to carry a glass of water to the table without asking for help. And I look forward to starting up kickboxing and lifting and even just taking my dog for our morning walks. Getting there will be hard. But I will try to be patient with the process and appreciate the journey, because we forget to celebrate the small things. And those can often be the most important.
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