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Aug. 25th, 2002 05:21 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
johnpalmerA while back, I posted an "inspirational story" about a kid trying to become a better baseball player. The problem, of course, is the kid just wasn't a 'natural'.
The story idea came to me while I was jogging. See, I got a *BAD* case of tendinitis. I started jumping rope to kickstart my fitness routine, and my knee ached a bit. Well, I knew what the problem was... I was too heavy. So, I'd have to lose some weight, and that knee wouldn't keep bothering me. So, I increased my workout load.
Trust me, this *REALLY DID* make sense to me at the time... and it actually had worked in the past. Anyway, eventually, it got bad, and I tried resting for two weeks. After those two weeks, it was still actively painful to, say, kneel. Finally, after too damn long, I went to the doctor, took naproxen, then went to physical therapy, and I got better. "Better", not "well", and that's an important distinction.
Now, I'm not "fat" by some people's standards. I'd be called "barrel chested" in ages past, and for a good reason, except the barrel goes all the way down my waist. I weigh in at about 250 lbs right now. I could probably go down to 180 and be in really good shape, but my family really is big boned, and 200 is probably a more reasonable goal, what with me not being in my 20s anymore.
But, when I started jogging, I realized that my heart had gotten a lot less fit.
Suddenly, I'm trying to get back into fitness by jogging, see? And I'm facing these challenges... challenges that can't just be overcome by force of will. They might have been when I was in my teens or twenties... I could probably have risked a bit more strain on my heart, and probably could have run with a bit more achiness in my knee, but today, I'm actually a little bit afraid to stress either too far. I'm not *OLD*, I'm not even middle aged... I'm 35, which means I can glare at someone who calls me "young man" unless that person is *REALLY* old, and speaking comparatively. But I'll bet people have died from heart attacks at the age of 35, and I'll bet people have found that an overstressed tendon can lead to a permanent injury at younger ages.
And it struck me how complex this all is. I have to be aware of these limitations... but, at the same time, I have to try to overcome them, but *NEVER* by denying them.
And I realized that this touches on my ADHD and depression, as well. You can't protect yourself against depression by living as if you weren't depressed... you need to protect yourself by remembering that you *CAN* get depressed, and taking positive action to prevent that.
This all ties to some other discussions. A person was saying "No one can make you a victim (later amended to "no one can make you continue being a victim", or something close) without your consent". The idea is probably something like "you can't let a nasty happenstance get you down", but that's, in a sense, denying the situation.
People frequently question the wisdom of "labelling" a child as having ADHD, because won't that make the child too aware of the limits, and unwilling to try to get better?
Again, that's denying the problem. What, will a child feel better having to spend three times as long at reading a boring book as anyone else *WITHOUT* knowing there's a reason?
There are always problems that have to be looked full in the eye, and acknowledged and understood (like a tricky knee or a still-improving heart) before you have a decent chance to get beyond them. And it worries me that denial is oftentimes considered the proper response to such a problem instead.
The story idea came to me while I was jogging. See, I got a *BAD* case of tendinitis. I started jumping rope to kickstart my fitness routine, and my knee ached a bit. Well, I knew what the problem was... I was too heavy. So, I'd have to lose some weight, and that knee wouldn't keep bothering me. So, I increased my workout load.
Trust me, this *REALLY DID* make sense to me at the time... and it actually had worked in the past. Anyway, eventually, it got bad, and I tried resting for two weeks. After those two weeks, it was still actively painful to, say, kneel. Finally, after too damn long, I went to the doctor, took naproxen, then went to physical therapy, and I got better. "Better", not "well", and that's an important distinction.
Now, I'm not "fat" by some people's standards. I'd be called "barrel chested" in ages past, and for a good reason, except the barrel goes all the way down my waist. I weigh in at about 250 lbs right now. I could probably go down to 180 and be in really good shape, but my family really is big boned, and 200 is probably a more reasonable goal, what with me not being in my 20s anymore.
But, when I started jogging, I realized that my heart had gotten a lot less fit.
Suddenly, I'm trying to get back into fitness by jogging, see? And I'm facing these challenges... challenges that can't just be overcome by force of will. They might have been when I was in my teens or twenties... I could probably have risked a bit more strain on my heart, and probably could have run with a bit more achiness in my knee, but today, I'm actually a little bit afraid to stress either too far. I'm not *OLD*, I'm not even middle aged... I'm 35, which means I can glare at someone who calls me "young man" unless that person is *REALLY* old, and speaking comparatively. But I'll bet people have died from heart attacks at the age of 35, and I'll bet people have found that an overstressed tendon can lead to a permanent injury at younger ages.
And it struck me how complex this all is. I have to be aware of these limitations... but, at the same time, I have to try to overcome them, but *NEVER* by denying them.
And I realized that this touches on my ADHD and depression, as well. You can't protect yourself against depression by living as if you weren't depressed... you need to protect yourself by remembering that you *CAN* get depressed, and taking positive action to prevent that.
This all ties to some other discussions. A person was saying "No one can make you a victim (later amended to "no one can make you continue being a victim", or something close) without your consent". The idea is probably something like "you can't let a nasty happenstance get you down", but that's, in a sense, denying the situation.
People frequently question the wisdom of "labelling" a child as having ADHD, because won't that make the child too aware of the limits, and unwilling to try to get better?
Again, that's denying the problem. What, will a child feel better having to spend three times as long at reading a boring book as anyone else *WITHOUT* knowing there's a reason?
There are always problems that have to be looked full in the eye, and acknowledged and understood (like a tricky knee or a still-improving heart) before you have a decent chance to get beyond them. And it worries me that denial is oftentimes considered the proper response to such a problem instead.
