Overdoing It
Really at age 57, you would think I would have learned to listen to my body by now! Instead I seem to be an expert at overdoing it. I’ve been doing physical therapy three days a week for five months trying to calm down my back spasms and repair my hunched over painful shoulders. I want so much to regain strength in my arms and upper back, so I can function without pain, but this desire has led me to overdo it at therapy. When I’m told to increase repetitions or weight, I do as I’m told even though my body is screaming at me. Twice now my shoulders have gotten so painful that I’ve had to stop exercising for days to calm them down.
Yesterday in therapy, I did only what felt okay and thankfully my left shoulder is better today than it has been all week. Today, I did a bit of weeding in my garden and actually quit BEFORE I was in pain. Maybe I really can listen to my body and quit before I’ve injured myself.
A Better Way
Do you struggle with this? I’m so stubborn! I want to do what I want to do and I push myself to the dropping point all too often. We need to trust ourselves that we really do know when to stop and rest. We need to be assured that since we live in our bodies we know better than any doctor or physical therapist how our bodies feel and what works best for us. We need to become our own experts when it comes to our health. This is an empowering idea to me. I hope you don’t wait 57 years to figure it out for yourself.
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Till next time, Kathy
