In life, sometimes we have to go through very un-beautiful things, but if we are patient they often times turn into very beautiful things! Below is one of my stories of something so un-beautiful turned beautiful…enjoy!
My brother is thrilled to know that what he always says to me, “Emme, ball sports are just not your thing!” is not entirely true anymore! In addition to my running, I’ve been hitting the courts a few nights each week with family and friends and working on my tennis game! My workout clothing addiction has equipped me with many tennis skirts and dresses already! I’ve had the look down for awhile, but here is how my love for the game happened:
As most of you know, I am a long distance runner! You can expect to see posts about running in the future because running is one thing that I think is simply beautiful! Anyway, along with running, especially distance running, comes injuries. Shin splints, blisters, stress fractures, etc. you name it…I’ve had it. This brings me to my point.
It was marathon training. It was September. I was in the middle of one of my long runs when I felt something awkward in my foot. I just chalked it up to a tweaked muscle or something and finished my run. I iced my foot that night and the next morning set out for my next run! Little did I know, I was running on a stress fracture. Ouch! Momentary lapse in judgment, I know.
It wasn’t until later that afternoon, at work, that I realized that something really wasn’t right. I worked at a cute clothing boutique at the time (a shout out to all of my Pitaya loves!) and one of my girlfriends so sweetly pointed out that my foot was swelling right out of my adorable gladiator sandal!!!! Tragic. A few trips to the sports medicine doctor, some x-rays, a pair of crutches, and a big ugly black boot later I had a broken foot and the doctor said that running was a big NO-NO! Those of you that know me know that this is something that made me FAR from happy.
It was difficult to go from doing something that I love almost every single day to not being able to do it at all. I really struggled with it. However, I learned a lot from that experience. I realized that sometimes, as human beings, when things are difficult we default back to what we know and what we are sure that we are good at rather than dealing with and working through the hard times…in my case, running is my default. However, when running was literally taken away from me temporarily, I had to find new ways to deal with my stress, anxiety, struggles, emotions, etc. other than literally running away from them. It was such a time of self growth and, while I did not realize it in that moment, a real blessing!
With that said, I was still determined to remain active. So it was deep water running, swimming laps, and spinning that kept me going for the next 12 weeks or so. In the beginning, I wasn’t so sure about this whole cross training thing. However, I had no choice, but to embrace it and enjoy it. And that’s just what I did. Not before I bought a cute pink Nike suit to do my pool workouts in though!
As soon as my attitude changed, I began to really enjoy myself…even toying with the idea of triathlons! While I am finally back to my typical running routine, I am still under the doctor’s orders to incorporate cross training into my schedule as well. Everything in moderation is another lesson that I learned from this one. Not only has working other muscles every now and then actually made me a better runner, but it has lead me to a new love of mine…tennis!
IF YOU ARE SKIMMING THROUGH THIS BECAUSE IT IS ENTIRELY TOO LONG TO READ…START READING NOW: My point in all of this is that it’s funny to me how something that was so difficult and seemed so awful to begin with really turned out to be many blessings in disguise! However, I am not surprised, because God works in mysterious ways. My broken foot was painful and difficult, but I grew and learned so much as a person as a result of that situation that I endured. Sometimes we have to go through very un-beautiful things, but if we are patient they often times turn into very beautiful things!
Next time you are faced with a tough situation, I urge you to remain calm and wait for the beautiful. If you look for it, you will find it!
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