(no subject)
Nov. 10th, 2003 10:44 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
tylikSo I was discharged from Physical Therapy today.
This is a good thing, I think. I'm not all the way better, but at this point she's pretty much taught me what I can be taught, and it's not like I need to come in so they can nag me into keeping up with my exercises. (Indeed, for the most part my martial arts should take care of the rest of the recovery process.) So I asked her a couple more questions (largely in the "so any last thoughts on getting more flexibility in my ankles" and "so when I get this kind of headache, what should I do?" sort of catagory), she took down the name and contact information of the school in case she decides she must do wushu (or, I suspect refer anyone there) and said our goodbyes.
Oh, and we talked a bit about what next. Her take: I have hypermobile joints, some moderately so, some very much so. And a number of them have been injured over the years. If I want to maintain good health, I need to maintain lots of strength and muscle mass. For the rest of my life. (On the other hand, when supported by well developed muscles, the tendency towards hyper mobile joints means that flexibility should come fairly easily to me. Oh, did I mention that I've regained almost all the ground I lost on front splits? I might make the level exams yet.)
I'd pretty much already figured out that part. I don't have a "work out half and hour every day" body. I need to be more active. If I don't, I suffer. (Witness my career at Microsoft. And keep and mind that through much of it I was working out every day or close to it.)
This is a lot of the reason that I'm looking so serious at teaching martial arts. It's not really that I think I'm such a great martial artist. It's that I have to find something that is sustainable for me. I do love the martial arts... and I like teaching, but I'm not sure it would either make it this high on my priority list, or if I'd have the confidence to pursue it all were I not motivated in part by desperation. (Of course, it might have not made it that high on my priority list precisely because I lacked the confidence, so...)
Sometimes my life scares me. While there's still a lot of other stuff I'm looking at, I feel like I'm committing myself to never work more than part time in any non physically active field. And while this is in many ways a great idea (and I am grateful that I'm in a position to pursue this) I've tended to think of myself in terms of my intellectual acchievements more than my physical for most of my life, and many of my favorite things are hard to find in part time chunks.
And there's something a little mind bending about trying to make a life out of doing something active because my body has put me through such hell. It's pretty hard to trust my body that much. And sometimes I feel like life is pushing me pretty hard in this direction, and it's hard not to rebel. I don't like feeling cornered.
Oh well. The big question for me really is whether or not I can make it work at all. The rest of it is pretty doable. Lots of working evenings and weekends... which means I won't be too tempted to get wrapped up in my social life, and I'll have time free for writing, or pursuing a PhD, or whatever the heck I decide to do with myself. Work that I find very satisfying. And it's not like there aren't other options if it doesn't work out. (Hey, maybe I should apply to police academy. Follow in my favorite aunt the CSI's footsteps. Heh.)
This is a good thing, I think. I'm not all the way better, but at this point she's pretty much taught me what I can be taught, and it's not like I need to come in so they can nag me into keeping up with my exercises. (Indeed, for the most part my martial arts should take care of the rest of the recovery process.) So I asked her a couple more questions (largely in the "so any last thoughts on getting more flexibility in my ankles" and "so when I get this kind of headache, what should I do?" sort of catagory), she took down the name and contact information of the school in case she decides she must do wushu (or, I suspect refer anyone there) and said our goodbyes.
Oh, and we talked a bit about what next. Her take: I have hypermobile joints, some moderately so, some very much so. And a number of them have been injured over the years. If I want to maintain good health, I need to maintain lots of strength and muscle mass. For the rest of my life. (On the other hand, when supported by well developed muscles, the tendency towards hyper mobile joints means that flexibility should come fairly easily to me. Oh, did I mention that I've regained almost all the ground I lost on front splits? I might make the level exams yet.)
I'd pretty much already figured out that part. I don't have a "work out half and hour every day" body. I need to be more active. If I don't, I suffer. (Witness my career at Microsoft. And keep and mind that through much of it I was working out every day or close to it.)
This is a lot of the reason that I'm looking so serious at teaching martial arts. It's not really that I think I'm such a great martial artist. It's that I have to find something that is sustainable for me. I do love the martial arts... and I like teaching, but I'm not sure it would either make it this high on my priority list, or if I'd have the confidence to pursue it all were I not motivated in part by desperation. (Of course, it might have not made it that high on my priority list precisely because I lacked the confidence, so...)
Sometimes my life scares me. While there's still a lot of other stuff I'm looking at, I feel like I'm committing myself to never work more than part time in any non physically active field. And while this is in many ways a great idea (and I am grateful that I'm in a position to pursue this) I've tended to think of myself in terms of my intellectual acchievements more than my physical for most of my life, and many of my favorite things are hard to find in part time chunks.
And there's something a little mind bending about trying to make a life out of doing something active because my body has put me through such hell. It's pretty hard to trust my body that much. And sometimes I feel like life is pushing me pretty hard in this direction, and it's hard not to rebel. I don't like feeling cornered.
Oh well. The big question for me really is whether or not I can make it work at all. The rest of it is pretty doable. Lots of working evenings and weekends... which means I won't be too tempted to get wrapped up in my social life, and I'll have time free for writing, or pursuing a PhD, or whatever the heck I decide to do with myself. Work that I find very satisfying. And it's not like there aren't other options if it doesn't work out. (Hey, maybe I should apply to police academy. Follow in my favorite aunt the CSI's footsteps. Heh.)
