Could this be good for me?
Zigging while others zag, letting go of the plan, and turning challenges into unexpected advantages.
Mantra: Make it an advantage.
Injuries can be exhausting.
The injury itself comes with a whole lot of admin - from doctors appointments to PT visits to the constant feeling you need to stay positive and "make the best of it". Many of life's set backs are like this. They throw off your plans, pile more on your plate, and still expect you to get up, do your morning routine and get on with it - preferably with a smile.
This past week, I realized that one of the most draining parts of recovery is this subtle, constant desire to revise my plan to resemble the original as closely as possible. Without realizing it, I’d internalized the idea that I was off track - and that the best possible outcome would be to claw my way back on track as fast as possible.
But there is one question, a mantra if you will, that has been the pivot point for me in escaping this mindset. Instead of assessing my progress in terms of degrees of deviation from my original race plan, I’ve been working to ask a different question:
How could I make this an advantage?
That simple question invites creativity. It shifts my mindset from loss management to opportunity seeking. Instead of being stuck in the gap between where I am and where I thought I’d be, I can start imagining what’s possible now.
For example: if I evaluate myself against my pre-injury training plan, I’m already behind. I’m not racing. I’m not logging hours. My brain urges me to double down on cross-training, to do more, to catch up - even if it’s not helpful to my recovery.
But if I ask instead, how could I make this an advantage?
I start to see things differently. Maybe this injury is giving me something I wouldn’t have gotten otherwise: a real mid-season reset. A physical and mental break that could leave me stronger for the second half of the year. I can zig while others zag. and with that perspective, prioritizing full recovery feels less like a compromise and more like a strategy.
This mantra doesn’t just help me manage the anxiety of being “off track.” It reminds me that I can create a new one - one that might open up new possibilities for growth, adventure and success.
Sometimes the detour just points you in a new direction.
Message: keeping it together is over-rated…
“Things falling apart is a kind of testing and also a kind of healing. We think that the point is to pass the test or to overcome the problem, but the truth is that things don’t really get solved. They come together and they fall apart. Then they come together again and fall apart again. It’s just like that. The healing comes from letting there be room for all of this to happen: room for grief, for relief, for misery, for joy.”
- Pema Chödrön, When Things Fall Apart: Heart Advice for Difficult Times
Musing: look for the opportunity…
Is there a challenge in your life right now that, with the right mindset, you might be able to turn into an unexpected advantage?
That poem is 🤘🏻 Thank you!
Love starting my Mondays with the gift of your musings.