The endless unknown
I’ve been having issues with my hamstring for a while now. Nothing specific happened (no distinct injury event), it has just been hurting for weeks. I’ve been stretching, taking it easy on my jogs, icing, rolling on a tennis ball…nothing (yet) has turned things around.
The other day I thought, “Is this going to last forever?!” and “If only I knew it would be over by some specific date, I could just relax.”
And there is the rub.
At the core of it is the notion of accepting what is instead of fighting it or trying to avoid it.
Wanting certainty. Discomfort with not knowing.
If we think we know what will happen (and we’re OK with that assumption), we relax. Or, if we trust the process, that things will go as they need to, then we can also relax. But in all other cases, we fight. Not (necessarily) a physical fight, but an energetic and emotional fight. We fight the reality of the way it is (BECAUSE IT SHOULDN’T BE THAT WAY!!!!!) and wrap ourselves up in twists and tangles.
And all that energy could be poured into something else entirely, or released in rest.
This is definitely my work (maybe yours too?) – to relax into, instead of tense up in the face of, the endless unknown…
Ahhhh the good ol’ days of hiking with no injury!