Today in practice I had a moment when I had to make a decision to stop and quit while I was ahead or push it and try again. I obviously chose the latter and should of stopped while I was ahead. I've had my fair share of injuries and the major ones could of all been prevented if I would have just stopped.
When I was 3 my sister and I were having this competition of who can jump from one bed to the next. The room we had had two beds set fairly close to each other. My mom was folding laundry on one of the beds and told us she didn't want us to get hurt so we needed to stop. I remember my sister and I pleading with her to jump one last time and she broke down and agreed. When I jumped, I missed the bed and my mouth got caught on the bed's wooden frame. The side of my mouth ripped open and I was taken to the hospital for stitches.
In 2nd grade I had this idea that if I run to the volleyball net I would bounce back and spring on my feet like I saw in the cartoons. What I didn't know was that a volleyball net is not like a trampoline. The bell rang and recess was over. I figured this would be the perfect opportunity to attempt my stunt. The volleyball nets were on the way back to my classroom and there wouldn't be any witnesses as everyone is rushing back to class. I ran full force to the net and instead of bouncing back on my feet, my face caught the net and I fell back and hit my head on the asphalt. I was crying and to make things worse, the recess lady that I feared was the one who came over to see if I was okay.
Same situation when I broke my collarbone, my ankle and my arm. I had a decision to either stop or push forward and I pushed. When I broke my collarbone my boyfriend and I were trying this bmx course by our apartment. I was doing well on the course and then he showed me this steep hill that had a crazy drop. It was getting dark and he didn't think I was ready for the hill. I finally convinced him that I was ready and I walked my bike up the scree and got ready to ride down. Right before I rode down he reminded me that at the bottom I need to hit my brakes and go left. The trail on the left was flat and clear. I rode down the hill and completely forget to brake and go left. I went straight, hit a few moguls and eventually flew over the handlebars. We should of just gone home.
The day I broke my ankle I wasn't feeling quite right and decided to go climb anyway. It was the end of the day and one of the guys we were climbing with couldn't finish the route and he needed someone to take his gear down. I had a bad climbing day and was done climbing at that point. I was too impatient to wait for someone else to take the gear down so I got my gear on and went up. About halfway up the route, I started to feel funny and kept climbing. Next thing I know I'm falling and instead of going straight down I pendulum and my ankle catches the wall. I ended up breaking my ankle and tearing two ligaments. Getting out of the climbing area proved to be a nightmare. The climbing area is 2 miles from the parking lot trailhead and it was dark.
The last major injury turned out to be the worst. I was up in Mammoth with my friends snowboarding for the weekend. All of them being advanced, I was going down the easy runs by myself. We all decided that we would reconvene at one of the lodges around 4:30. It was getting late and for my 2nd time being out, I has having such a great day and felt like I got the hang of things. I went up one last time and on my last run of the day, I fell and broke my arm. Breaking my arm was the worst injury out of them all. Again, easily could of been prevented. To make a long story longer, I had a broken arm for over 13 months, had 3 surgeries, 3 nerve block procedures, a nerve transposition, and lost my job.
Today's incident wasn't anything tragic, more embarrassing than anything else. Anything that has to do with balancing isn't my thing. With that being said, the things I love to do the most all require great balance. Since I've been here, I have been working on my headstands. On my first day of practice I specifically told Saraswathi that this was a problem area for me and needed assistance. So at the end of every practice I would wait for her and she helps me get up. Today, I was being impatient and didn't want to wait for her. I see this girl position herself near the wall and does a headstand on her own. I figured I could just do that instead of waiting. I moved to the back of the room and positioned my mat in the corner. Facing the wall I was to perform my headstand, to my left (back wall) there are windows with blinds and the wall I was facing had light switches to the right. I didn't want to do my headstand on the back wall in case I over rotate and hit the blinds. Moving right wasn't an option either for fear of hitting the light switch. The little area was ample room to prevent me from over rotating. I got ready to do my headstand and go up no problem. I was able to hold the position and didn't use the wall at all. Me being me, I decide that I should try it again to see if I can hold it longer. I try to go up and have no clue what happened next. I end up tipping to my left and crashing into the blinds. Being in the corner, my feet come down and I end up in a ball with my head tweaked and my legs in my chest. That was the point I lost it and could not stop laughing. The guy next to me was smirking and was trying hard not to laugh. After I unwrapped myself I quickly sat down on my mat and kept my head down.
It's interesting how when you are trying to be as quiet as possible is when you make the most amount of noise. Ironically, on my walk home from the shala, the song "No One Sleeps While I'm Awake" came on my iPod. Typical!
My lesson learned for today is to never trust a corner. They are not as safe as one would like to think.
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