Setbacks and Progress

Two weeks ago, I wrote about being happy with my efforts to add more natural movement to my daily activities. I was feeling good about my progress over the past four months. 

I was feeling good until the unexpected happened. I tried to do a cartwheel while walking the dog with my husband through the park after dark. I had not done a cartwheel in about 20 years, but had been doing handstands for a few months building my strength and confidence. How hard could it be?

Harder than I thought. I tried twice leading with my left leg. It wasn't pretty and didn't feel right. After all these years, I had forgotten how. I tried leading with my right leg. Realizing that wasn't right, I stopped. Unfortunately, my right foot slid forward in the wet grass. I did the splits then collapsed in pain. I had pulled my hamstring. It hurt from my foot to my butt. My husband helped me up asking "What was I thinking?"

I hobbled home discouraged and frustrated all at once. Not only had I failed to complete a cartwheel, now I could barely walk. Biking, squatting and handstands caused pain. This was a serious setback. It happened on Friday night of the long weekend. I rested Saturday and Sunday, then rallied enough to clean our patio cover, window screens and pool on Monday. It felt good to do something useful after two days of rest.

Unfortunately, all that cleaning resulted in another setback. Cleaning irritated my right shoulder. It hurt just to lift my arm. My whole right side was a hurting mess for the rest of the week. I decided to rest some more. I drove instead of biking to work, stopped lifting dumbbells and did not attempt handstands. 

By Friday, I was feeling a bit better and by Saturday, much better. My shoulder felt normal. Squatting continued to hurt, but I could do my dumbbell exercises and handstands. I took this photo using a 10-sec delay with my camera on a stool. It felt good to be making progress again.

Since my mishap, I have watched a few videos explaining how to cartwheel. I want to try again once my hamstring stops hurting. It may seem silly, but I think cartwheeling into old age will help keep me interested in maintaining strength and flexibility. It's these fun sort of challenges I love.

You may be wondering why I haven't mentioned crochet recently. I have been focused more on me and movement; less on crochet since I started sitting on the floor four months ago. It surprises me that after five years of total crochet obsession, I have lost interest. I started a little doll recently. Two arms and two legs are done. I'm not feeling terribly motivated, but will be sure to share photos if I finish.

For a change of pace, I joined a book club this week. The ladies in my Mom's neighbourhood take turns hosting a book club meeting once a month. They get together ostensibly to discuss the book. I went to my first meeting last night. Truthfully, we chatted about all sorts of things while sipping wine and munching snacks. It was fun. 

The London Public Library offers a Book Club in a Bag. You get 10 copies of a book in a bag for a month. They carry a large selection of titles. Our next book "Good to a Fault" by Marina Endicott looks interesting. I will start as soon as I finish the first book. I got my copy of "The Guest Room" by Chris Bohjalian two days ago, so am only half way through. It's a gripping story so far. I can't wait to see what happens next and how it works out in the end.

I am enjoying so many fun things besides crochet these days ... natural movement, reading, blogging and socializing just to name a few. Despite recent setbacks, I have decided to be satisfied with my progress. 

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