Or on the Upper West Side of Manhattan...
The phrase that keeps running through my mind is "take it easy."
Which is exactly what I didn't do in my quest to recover quickly. Since my recovery was going so well, why not push harder? I ignored common sense, my own long orthopedic history and kept pushing. Not a wise decision. Another lesson learned is to not try and push through pain.
About ten days ago I noticed that my knee hurt when I walked. One of my physical therapists diagnosed it as a shin splint and gave me stretches to do. I did them, but didn't cut down on my walking. By the end of last week, my right leg hurt from my knee to my ankle. I explained this to my primary physical therapist who diagnosed me with tendonitis. His prescription: ice my knee and "take it easy," which is how the Eagles came to semi-permanently reside in my head.
Three days later the pain has considerably faded, but I've also cut my walking down to an average of one mile a day and brought out my ice packs several times a day. As eager as I was to stop using my cane I've decided it's my best friend these days and I will use it as long as I need to. I'd forgotten that the primary lesson of recovery states that recovery is not linear and there are steps forward and steps backward.
I'd also ignored one of the primary lessons of life:
"the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong,"
Ecclesiastes 9:11
So I'm a little less swift these days. I'm listening to the Eagles and once again learning to take it easy. Honestly, I'm not sad about the setback. It's really a tiny one in the total arc of recovery.
The photograph above is from a mural done as part of the CityArts Program. It illustrates the poem, "Revolutionary Petunia," by Alice Walker. It's four blocks from where I live and it was part of my walk on Saturday.
I hope you're taking it easy, too, and enjoying the longer days and more light. As ever, thanks for visiting and take care.


