Summertime is usually full of evening gatherings, weekends at the beach, and casual dinners sitting outside for me. While I still got to enjoy some of those things this summer, I had to slow down and pause from an injury.
I love summer. I feel this urge to absorb all that summer has to offer on those hot, humid days; a ripe juicy tomato ready to be cut for a sandwich, the smell of freshly cut grass and a mix of the aromatics reaching my nose as I walk through my herb garden; of burgers cooking on the grill; fresh seafood at our favorite local waterfront spot. And taking off Fridays as often as I can to hit the beach or jump in the car to drive to a nearby town to slow down and relax; to explore and take photos as I meander through the shops and market.
And that is exactly how I expected my summer to go until I had a golf cart accident in mid-June. I flew off the back of a friend’s golf cart one evening and landed on my entire right side including my head. The next day I knew something was very wrong and realized I may have a concussion and needed to get my head checked out. After a day of unexpected and worrisome symptoms and a visit to the ER, I was told I had a hairline skull fracture and scalp hematoma. I literally had a crack on the side of my head. After waiting six hours to make sure my condition was not getting worse I was sent home for observation (who was supposed to ‘observe me? Me?’ It appeared yes.)
Well, the ER’s job is to do one of the following things: first, determine if you are experiencing a medical emergency and take action if you are experiencing an emergency. If it isn’t a medical emergency they may either admit you to the hospital if you need further care or release you to follow up with your doctor or recover at home. Once I left the hospital with my husband at four am to head home I was on my own to navigate my recovery from my head trauma. This was my first time visiting the ER as a patient.
The first few days I spent most of my time in bed sleeping or resting; I took it easy. After four days, I realized I had lost my sense of smell from hitting my head. That was a shocker but googling, “head injury and loss of smell,” turned up results that explained that while it’s not common one can have issues with your sense of smell from a head injury. Fast forward a few more days and I began to have hearing loss, ringing in my ears and double hearing in my left ear. It was very disconcerting and stressful. I went to Urgent Care a few days later to get my ears checked.
While this unfortunate accident and injury made me have to slow down on summer living, I was still able to enjoy some of my favorite things just at a slower pace. After eight to nine weeks I finally felt like myself again and most of my symptoms had waned. It was a time of slowing down, and reflection and thinking. Here are a few things I took away from my summer as I let my body and mind heal.
Prioritizing Our Health Should Be At the Top of the List
Sometimes it takes an event or health scare to get us to make changes in our lives or slow down for a season. We can choose to use the time to rest, recover and reflect or we can try to push through it and may end up in a more serious or chronic state of being unwell.
I choose to slow down, work to clean up some of my nutritional choices and pace of life to give my brain the best chance to heal completely. And I had a few other health numbers and goals I knew I needed to address. My head injury allowed me to remember how precious life is and how important our health is to living a long, fulfilling life.
I had two months of concussion symptoms that would come and go and I had to slow my usual pace down greatly but as I approached 10 weeks post injury I finally began to feel like myself 95% of the time. The headaches were finally a rare occurrence in my life, my hearing resolved itself and I am back to hearing normally and my energy was back.
It All Comes Down to Our Perspective
Let’s rewind to the week after my accident and head injury. I had a choice to make. Was I going to be upset or frustrated? I was hurt and needed to pause summer plans, and work on my podcast, mentoring and fitting in as much sunshine and summertime fun as I could or was I going to choose a different perspective; one that saw the blessing and the upside of my predicament? Well I choose the latter.
I decided that I could use this time to heal my body by eating well, hydrating, and limiting my stress. And I believed that through healing I would gain new perspectives. While I didn’t choose this, I realized it was the perfect time to assess my choices and prune activities, or things that no longer served me. And I knew that God would take this circumstance and turn it into something good.
We can’t always choose our circumstances or what happens to us but we sure as heck get to choose our perspective. We can choose to be grateful, positive and hopeful or we can choose to be bitter, angry and hopeless.
I Am Grateful to Be Alive
It is not lost on me that I did not have an internal brain bleed, I didn’t need brain surgery and that I did not die in my sleep after traumatically hitting my head. I am not being dramatic here. 72,000 people die from head injuries every year and up to another 200,000 have long-term disabling symptoms. I unfortunately know several friends' parents who died from head injuries and many friends shared stories with me of people they knew that died or cannot function as they did before their injury.
So when I say I am grateful to be alive; that I am grateful that my brain healed and I can step back into my life I am beyond serious. It was a wake up call. Our time is limited. Our health matters. And we shouldn’t waste time staying on a path of expectation or that has crushes our soul, instead we should chart a new course and step into doing something we love and that will have a positive impact in the world.
I thank God for being alive. To have sight, and vision, my hearing, my taste, touch and the ability to walk and talk. My smell isn’t completely back but I am thankful for my smell. I am thankful for a mind that works and being created in God’s image with an imagination, and creativity, and a curiosity to explore the world.
Having People Who Show Up & Love Us Matters Greatly
My husband took me to the ER and stayed with me all night. He would check on me during the day while he was at work and see what I needed when he got home each day. My boys were helpful and available if I needed them. And my family and friends checked on me, and visited and were on the ready to help if I needed it.
I know how fortunate I am that I have a tribe of people who love me and I love. I am supported and loved. I also know that not everyone has that. Here’s what I want to say about that- if you don’t have a community or tribe who will be there for you when you fall it’s time to start investing time into meeting some new folks and putting in the effort to grow rich, loving relationships.
When they studied longevity one of the top indicators of living a long life is having deep connections with a few people. I promise it is worth it. I get that it’s not always easy to find and then develop adult friendships but it’s possible and necessary. Step out of your comfort zone and go meet some people.
Joy is Found in the Everyday
Before my accident I was working on a new course and book around Joy so it’s been something I have been thinking about and exploring for some time. During my recovery it allowed me to explore joy even more and ask this question: ‘how do we experience more joy and have a joyful heart regardless of what’s going on in our lives?’
You see, what I had come to understand before I cracked my head was that joy is available to us regardless of our circumstances and when happiness is fleeting. And my circumstances allowed me to put this idea to the test. What did I find? I found that I was able to be joyful throughout my healing. I was able to tap into the joy we can feel in any circumstance because we can be grateful and know good is always at work even in hard or difficult circumstances. It might be felt in the kindness a nurse shows, or noticing the picturesque sunset or a hundred different ways. It requires us to have a grateful and open heart. And as a Christian joy is given to us from the Holy Spirit as the fruit of the Spirit and I continue to see this fruit at work in so many people's lives, including my own.
“Joy comes when we are grounded in who God is and who He made us to be. When we realize that we are already enough right now. Not in our striving to be more or in accomplishing or achieving more. But now. This is when we find the joy we are looking for in God’s love and in His presence.” Kristin Fitch
Seeing God in Everything
I’ve had a daily practice of gratitude for a long time. Something I have done in more recent years is to give thanks and be thankful for the smallest things throughout the day as I notice them. To have a continuous conversation with God about every single thing I notice that delights me, or inspires me or I enjoy or I am grateful for.
I thank God for the beautiful purple flowers on my walk, and for the taste of fresh basil on my pasta, I thank God for the masterpiece of the sunset with the constantly changing color palette and I thank him for how creative and imaginative he is and for giving us all those gifts. To the best of my ability I try to live in a state of awe and wonder at everything around me.
And when I really want to dig into being grateful- I just remember how amazing God’s creations are; that our bodies can heal so much; that starfish can grow back legs; that butterflies begin as caterpillars; that herbs are medicine.
These are a few of the things I took away from my summer of slowing down and healing. I wish you all the health, love and joy in your life and I’d love to know something you’ve gone through and what you learned. Hugs- K