Getting Back Into Your Routine

So this is going to be a bit different than my typical blog posts.

Story time –

February 13th this year I got a procedure done called Osseointegration (Oi). Basically, Oi is a procedure for amputees who cannot or don’t want to wear prosthesis due to the socket that the stump goes into. I lost my legs July 1st, 2003 after getting hit by a truck when I was crossing the street. Due to excessive scar tissue on my legs, prosthesis were never an option for me because they skin would constantly break down. I was (and still am) confined to a wheelchair to get around. Oi offers an opportunity for amputees to use prosthesis who did not have that option.

It was a long recovery. A VERY painful recovery. It downright sucked. But I was slowly making progress walking. In just three months of using the full prosthesis I was starting to use forearm crutches instead of parallel bars. It was really exciting.

Until August 18th this year. On August 18th I broke my left femur working out with my prosthesis on. Talk about a shit situation. I was finally starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel, and BAM! Broken leg.

I am still recovering from my broken leg. For about a month I was on a couch. Literally. I hardly moved because I either couldn’t or it just simply hurt too much to try. In one month, I went from someone who works 60-80 hours a week, goes to the gym 2-4 times a week, regularly goes out with friends, to someone who was so utterly useless I had to pay my dog sitter to walk my dog because I was unable.

Oh ya, it hurt. Physically and mentally. I felt pretty depressed about the whole situation. I had been working towards getting Oi for about three years, finally got it, hard a difficult recovery, recovered, then broke my leg. It was definitely one of those “the world is truly against me” times.

I eventually got a text from my nutritionist asking me if I had set up an appointment with my personal trainer. I had not. I wanted to see him the previous week but I had got used to being lazy, on the couch, being useless. I decided that I needed to set up an appointment with him. I did. Went in. Got my ass kicked. Was in a lot of pain the next day but I had to go back. So after a month of doing next to nothing, I went and lifted two days in a row. I FELT it.

But I felt so good about myself for doing it. Really. I felt great mentally because I knew that I was going to get back in the swing of things. I have been regularly going to the gym since I was about 14-15 (2-5 times a week). The longest I have been off of the gym in that time has been just under two months. So that’s over 10 years of regularly working out.

I don’t write this to brag about my super lifting skills (which are on point, for the record). I’m just saying that my injury really disrupted many different parts of my life. My work, my work out routine, my social life, everything was fucked because of a broken leg.

BUT…

Once I decided it was time to get back into my routine, I was immediately happy about it. And once I started actually DOING my routine… greatest feeling I had in a while.

The point is, if you are in a funk, if you are not keeping up with your routine, get back to it. Trust me it will feel amazing to get back on that horse and ride! Finish that project, write the rest of that album, work on your rudiments, try new vocal ranges, read the industry news, whatever. As humans we have to continually evolve and be better than we were the day before. Being stagnant is the EXACT SAME as moving backwards. If you’re not going forward, you’re going back.

Take it from me… it feels WAY better to be doing something, than doing nothing.