Lessons From Physical Therapy

“Everyone wants someone else’s physical therapy.”

 This is what my physical therapist told me when I asked about the adorable, candy-colored objects (pictured above) I spotted while washing my hands the other day. I had never seen them before.

 “How do they work?”, I asked. “People pick them up with their toes – one at a time – and drop them into a nearby jug,” he explained. 

 Jokingly, I told him “I can do this!” and “I would be really good at it!” and “Why can’t this be my therapy?!”

 The response? 

“Everyone wants someone else’s physical therapy.”

 It’s true.

 Following a fall a few months ago that fractured my upper arm and required surgical intervention, I struggle to lift weights so small that I didn’t even know they existed in that size. Improvement has been steady but hard. I try to keep perspective but sometimes I get discouraged.  In the meantime, I’m surrounded by people who are tasked with doing squats, lunges, sit ups, balancing maneuvers – any number of activities I could easily ace right now. Instead, I have been condemned to a regime of aggressive range of motion exercises to restore my upper arm and shoulder functionality. By the way, I’ve also learned that the term “aggressive” is all relative and, in my case, currently involves those ridiculously tiny little weights.

 And that’s when the epiphany occurred.

 I may want to be tasked with the toe/jug exercise but I’m just not on that path. We are all on different paths, which we should embrace and master in our own way.  This is a powerful personal and professional message for all of us, especially as we head into 2023: 

 Embrace your own path and master it.  

With that message in mind, wishing you all a happy, fulfilling, and prosperous New Year!