Good evening! If you hadn’t heard already, your boy tore his ACL playing rec soccer back in September. An ACL and two meniscus tears had to be repaired in my right knee (formerly the good one!) on this year’s Halloween. Upon tearing it, my immediate thought was “what the hell am I doing playing competitive soccer with a bunch of 20 somethings?!” While I plan to return to the court since I subscribe to the “ball is life” ethos, my time on the pitch is done. Two knee injuries in three years is more than enough. 

With a severe injury like this, it’s inevitable that it will take over damn near every aspect of your life. I’ve spent most of the last two months trying to reconcile that with my understanding that I’ll never be given more than I can bear (while I find this true, research tells me this is not what the scripture says!). All this reflecting has helped me understand this season is throwing lesson after lesson at me. As these moments and pieces of wisdom come to me, I will share them with you.

1. Don’t Be Afraid to Ask for Help – As someone who struggles with asking people for help, I’ve been forced to rethink my relationship with it. The last time I had to rely on someone for my basic human needs, I was a toddler. Since then, I’ve had to learn a lot of things on my own and I’m good at it! I take pride in handling and figuring things out myself. It’s a whole other situation when you can not use the bathroom without assistance. It became so clear how important it was to move-in with, propose to, and marry my wife this past year. I’m beyond thankful for her.
2. Ladies, I Feel Your Pain – Lord have mercy! Until this injury, I had never experienced serious pain, especially at a 9 or 10/10. The first three days post-op, I experienced this sustained pain several times. In these moments where I was sitting next to my partner trying to be present, I got a glimpse of what she and many women go through monthly. While I have no real solution, Ladies, you have my utmost respect and I’ll make sure there’s always a heating pad on deck!
3. Hygiene, Hygiene, Hygiene – I understand dirty people now. If you ever have to go one week without a shower, it feels like God’s holy water is raining upon you. It’s the most religious experience I’ve had since being a teen. I felt like Andy escaping prison in Shawshank while sitting down in that first shower. I get it now – these people don’t want to shower too often because then a shower becomes mundane. They get addicted to that feeling like those people in “My Strange Addiction.” On the flip side, once I heal up, I WILL become a shower snob. Every time I step in I’ll be asking myself “how can I make the next one more luxurious” so that I get that feeling again. Watch this space!

Thank you for reading and stay tuned for part deux coming soon!