|
|
|
Welcome back to the Growing Tree of Life, our weekly exploration of personal growth and well-being.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Issue Number: #087
Date: 24 September 2024
Reading Time: 4 minutes
|
I Hurt My Back. Badly. #087
What happened? I’ve been stupid and lazy.
|
As you know from my last newsletter, I am finishing my book Live the Life You Love
|
And it was the writing, not the straw, that broke my back.
|
You see, two weeks ago I woke up on Monday, eager to continue writing but feeling lazy. So, instead of getting up, I decided to fire up my laptop and write in bed. Lying on my side, laptop beside me, I propped myself up on my left hand and started typing. For two hours, my torso was bent at a strange angle with the only movement being the typing of my right hand.
|
When I finally decided to roll out of bed, a loud groan escaped my lips. A sharp pang in my right lower back—yes, that place where my torso was bent for the last two hours—stopped me in my tracks.
|
It reminds me of the saying:
|
"What's the difference between young people and old people in bed in the morning? The same noises but for different reasons."
|
That moment of me, getting out of bed could have been taken from the "old man's" book. And I am only 55!
|
Anyway, with lots of grunting and groaning, I managed to descend into the kitchen. Soon, the scent of coffee filled the house. I’ve got a very comfy armchair in my living room and it seemed like the perfect spot for my hurting body. For the next six hours, I sat there and wrote, immersed in the world of the Tree of Life Quest. I was in the flow.
|
After a few hours, my belly started growling at me. Finally, I put my laptop aside and... I couldn’t get up. It was like someone had stabbed me and twisted the knife.
|
I grabbed the arms of the chair and tried to prop myself up against the furniture, but nothing helped. It took me over twenty minutes of excruciating pain to stand up. A few steps across the dining room into the kitchen took ages. Climbing the stairs? Impossible. If I needed to pee, I’d be in serious trouble.
|
So, what happened and why am I telling you all this? There must be some lessons in it; otherwise, I wouldn’t bore you with all of this, right?
|
You bet. There are lessons. Many. But I will focus on the main two.
|
First
Having a goal and being fully focused on it is an amazing tool. It's the main ingredient leading to success. Napoleon Hill wrote a whole series of books about it, the most famous being *Think and Grow Rich*. However, this approach has its downside.
|
Becoming too obsessed with one thing runs the risk of neglecting other, equally important things. You see, I was so immersed in writing that I neglected my body to the point of hurting it.
|
|
The same happened with my relationship, back in 2017.
|
|
I was so obsessed with my career that I sidelined the person I loved. It wasn’t the only reason for the end of the relationship, but it was a major one. Having a goal and going for it is important, but neglecting other important things will inevitably lead to problems, like hurting my back by not moving my body.
|
That's why I had to change my approach.
|
|
Since then, I still write for several hours at a time but I do it differently.
|
|
Right now, I type on my mobile while walking around the house.
|
Sometimes I sit behind the computer. And at other times I write on my laptop while standing. I make sure that I move my body and switch positions regularly. There is so much more to unpack here. But I have another point I want to address.
|
Second
I always say that mindset has the biggest impact on our lives. It determines how our lives will pan out. And here I was, crushed by a 'mere' pain. What happened to 'it's all in your head'?
|
It took me about an hour to realise that I was letting my body hijack my focus. For an hour, I wasn’t able to do anything because I focused on the pain.
|
Yes, the pain was real. Yes, you cannot escape the consequences of your choices. But hear me out.
|
You experience what you focus on.
|
Mindset is crucial; it can make or break your life.
|
Once I realised that I let my body dictate my actions, I refocused and evaluated the situation. Yes, my body was hurting, that was clear. But I hadn’t fallen or had a crash accident. The pain was likely due to a trapped nerve caused by stiff muscles.
|
What’s the best way to release a trapped nerve and get muscles working again? By getting blood into the muscles. When blood flows into the muscles, it smooths them out and helps you move more easily, leading to the release of the nerve. How do you get the blood flowing? By moving!
|
I transferred my focus from the pain to actions that could alleviate it.
|
When I focused on the pain, I avoided moving to dodge the pangs. But then I realised I was stuck in a vicious cycle—thinking about and avoiding the pain instead of trying to get rid of it. So, I used my mind to focus on what needed to happen. Avoiding movement would only prolong the pain.
|
I started moving. I focused on action—stretching, doing squats, and so on. The pain was still there but less piercing. It became dull, and soon I stopped paying attention to it because I focused on movement. The results came in.
|
The first thing I noticed was that moving faster reduced the pain because I moved past the trapped nerve quicker, so it didn’t send strong pain signals. I lifted my leg a few times, stretched to the right and left with my hips, did some belly dancing waist movements, and squatted. All these movements helped release the pain and relax the muscles.
|
Now, don’t get me wrong; when it has been three days since it happened, I still feel a lot of pain because muscles don’t heal instantly. But I could move and do many things. My mind wan’t focused on the pain as much anymore. But after another day the pain left and didn't come back.
|
I'm not suggesting you should try walking away from a car crash; there might be internal bleeding or other issues in such cases. In my situation, I knew the pain was due to muscle stiffness trapping a nerve.
|
Remember, what you focus on determines what you experience and how you experience it.
|
This goes together with the saying, "Oh, I had such a bad day."
|
Did you really had a bad day?
|
Or was it just a bad 20 minutes and then, for the rest of the day, you focused on that 20 minutes, thinking about it again and again and again, reliving the pain of those 20 minutes for the rest of the day?
|
That's the second point. What you focus on determines what you experience and how you experience it.
|
Tip for today:
|
|
|
When in pain—physical or psychological—focus on action, not on the pain.
|
|
Ask yourself, "What can I do that will make a difference?" When you focus on what you can change, the pain will step into the background and your life will instantly be much better.
|
That’s all for today. Thank you for reading, and see you next Tuesday.
|
|
PS: I promised that today I will send you a link to preorder my upcoming book Live the Life You Love: 7 Steps to a Meaningful and Abundant Life.
|
I have to apologise, I still haven't got the prices for the prints, therefore I could not set up the pre-order page. I will send it next week together with a link to download a free PDF copy of the book.
|
|
|
|
|
What you can do next:
- Would you like to get personal coaching? Check out my website Lubo.Coach and book a free Discovery call.
- Did you find this newsletter valuable?
Do you know someone who could benefit from information like this?
Please forward the email to them.
- Have you been forwarded this email?
Do you like it?
Here is the link you can use to subscribe.
The Growing Tree of Life newsletter is sent out every Tuesday.
Reading time is usually 4 minutes or less.
- The Tree of Life Quest website is a resource for you-centred personal development. Check it out.
- I have a free webinar and a workbook "It's Time To Be Me" that helps you find out who you are, what are your values, and what should you focus on to create and live a life you love.
- Do you have questions, comments, suggestions or complaints?
I would LOVE to hear from you.
You can reply to this email or use the Contact me Form.
- Follow me on X (Twitter) or Facebook for posts about personal growth, life improvement and occasional threads with tips and tools you can use.
(Note: I don't post on other platforms too much. Yet.)
- If you want to unsubscribe from the Growing Tree of Life newsletter, the link is at the bottom of the newsletter.
Lubo
|
|
|
|
Share this with your friends.
|
|
     
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
