How a Year Full of Injuries Can Lead to a Lifetime of Lessons

All throughout my life, I’ve been an athlete. I’ve danced, done gymnastics, taken swimming and tennis lessons, and ran track. I’ve played soccer, basketball, softball, and volleyball. After years and years of competitive sports, I considered myself extremely lucky to scrape by with a mere handful of minor injuries. All of that changed in 2019. First, a heel injury put me in a brace for a week. Next, a nasty slip on the ice wrecked my knee and kept me from any sort of exercise for six months. When I thought it was finally over, a running injury trapped me in a boot for, yes, the entire semester. This string of injuries really rocked me to my core. Exercise is not only incredibly enjoyable for me, but it is my main source of stress relief, which made it very hard at the time. In retrospect, I learned some valuable lessons that I will always carry with me. 

One of the biggest lessons I learned is to appreciate everything that my body does for me. Prior to my injuries, I often forgot how amazing it is that I’m able to run, lift weights, bike, and even walk. It wasn’t until my capabilities were impaired that I realized how precious all of these seemingly small activities actually are. I’m still not cleared to run yet, but even while lifting weights or going on the elliptical, I feel so blessed that my body allows me to exercise. After last year, it truly feels like a privilege rather than a right. I have learned all too well that it is beyond easy to lose that privilege. So even when the pain sets in, even when I’m worn out, I find myself grateful to have the challenge. 

The second biggest lesson I learned is adaptation. As a competitive athlete for over a decade, I fully intended to make sports a big part of my college experience, whether that meant intramural or club involvement. I played intramural volleyball during my first semester and stayed healthy, but when I joined club volleyball in the spring, I found myself quitting due to my injuries. I also had to quit a dance group even though I was in mid-way through learning choreography for a performance. Then, this past fall semester, I planned on joining track club, but once again my body prevented me from doing so. This really upset me at first, and I felt like it was this terrible thing. What I didn’t realize then was that by not playing sports, I had so much extra time to join clubs I might not have otherwise joined. One of these clubs happens to be the very club I am writing this article through, Her Campus. I love writing and always have, and my injuries physically preventing me from playing any sports for a year led me to this creative outlet… amongst others! I learned first hand that it truly is worth viewing struggles with a different perspective to see opportunity in their place. 

A third lesson I learned is perseverance. One injury felt bad enough, let alone two and three. It felt like I had been injured for forever, and by the third injury, it was very tempting to say “screw it” and jump out of the boot after a month. Still, I remained committed to my recovery. At times, I honestly thought it was never going to end. Nevertheless, I stayed in the boot for three and a half months as I was instructed to do. I hobbled around campus and made the best of the situation because, well, what else could I do? By sticking with it even when it was a royal pain, I strengthened my resilience. At times it was a real challenge for me, but by taking each day one at a time, I was able to come out of a year of injuries for the better. 

So, when it comes down to it, yeah, injuries still suck. But the lessons I learned over the course of this past year are ones that I will carry with me into the future. We can’t always control our circumstances, but we 100% can control the way that we handle and grow from them. It’s funny how some things, like annoying injuries, can morph into valuable takeaways when we least expect it.   

• injuries
• lessons
• self-care