An injury is always produced by one of these two reasons:
Internal Cause: There is an imbalance inside us, which ends up exploding.
↳ We will know that we had a problem that sooner or later we had to solve, and sometimes many athletes are not aware of it.
External Cause: An unexpected and fortuitous element causes an impact too heavy to be able to absorb it.
↳ We should realize that everything can change from one moment to another, and we cannot control everything.
In both situations, there is something in common: structures are broken or destabilized.
The injury and it’s subsequent recovery process, will always be an opportunity to repair those structures and/or imbalances.
I’ve been injured, now what?
Whatever the cause, an injury offers some opportunities that are rarely ever valued at the moment, because there is too much concern about what we are missing (or are going to miss) by staying out of the game for a while.
Opportunities:
As we said, there are some very interesting opportunities:
1. It is clear that is necessary to repair the damaged structures, but we can also take advantage to reinforce others that could be improved and probably, we have never had time or priority for it.
2. Everyday life, the competition, the requirement of a calendar, often catches us. Stop everything is always a great chance to think about what we have achieved so far, and what we would like to fight in the future.
3. It is a good time to realize what really matters. Reorganize our day to day, our habits, responsibilities and redefine our priorities.
4. You will spend some time alone, or better said, with yourself. There are many tasks that you will have to do on your own. It is a great opportunity to listen to yourself, know you and understand you more.
5. An injury can be the opportunity to return much better than before. The injury initially conditionates everything, however, it doesn’t mean that you could find your best version.
Right choices:
Besides opportunities, it is also important to make the right decisions, because like everything that happens to us in life (even a gold medal), the main thing is always going to be how we manage that situation. Therefore, it is time to:
1. Surround yourself with good professionals when you need them. You are injured, so put yourself in the best hands that are within your reach. In case you didn’t notice yet, you are the priority.
2. Choose wisely who accompanies you on this path. In your personal area, maybe not all your friends, or the people who are frequently around you, will provide you with what you need. Choose consciously.
3. Your diet becomes basic if it was not before. It is always important, but especially now, your body needs the best fuel as possible. Eat healthily and it will help you maintain your balance, facilitate your recovery and not add new problems to those you already have.
4. Find other activities that make you disconnect and/or reconnect. Surely, there will be things that now you can not do, but you can do others. Even some you have never done because remember that you may be injured, but you are still alive.
5. Give importance to rest. Respect and reorganize if necessary your rest habits. When you can work out, even if adapted, do it, it will help you sleep better and release stress. Listen to music, read, write, walk, meditate, use relaxation techniques, etc. but above all, it understands that for our body and mind, what we work is as important as the rest afterwards so that your structures are assimilating the new training loads and new adaptations can be generated.
3 key points:
Finally, there are three ideas to keep in mind throughout this process:
1. Many times we want to be smarter and go faster than time. This is not possible.
2. Future and goals are important, but there is something that has too much influence on what is going to happen: our day to day. Give it the value it has, because what you do every day, for many days, will conditionate your future.
3. We do not know everything and we shouldn’t take anything for granted. Learning will never end, however, we need to be ready for the next lesson.