What do you call a person who injures themselves? I was thinking masochist, but that’s not really right because I don’t hurt myself for pleasure, nor am I a willing participant.
I think it all started about eight years ago–something like that anyway. I was getting dressed for work, putting on my pantyhose, when I threw my lower back out. It took a couple doctor visits, some good, strong prescription medications, a lot of ice, and about two weeks of pain before I recovered. To this day, I have an unreasonable fear of pantyhose.
Getting older means we’re not quite as pliant and limber as we once were. I remember a woman I work with talking about taking up Yoga a few years ago, when she was my age. Now I understand.
The other day I pulled a muscle in my mid back when I sneezed. Who knew sneezing could be dangerous? As I felt the sneeze coming on, I turned away from whatever I was doing, and in the act of turning, I felt a tremendous pain in my back. It was so painful in fact that the sneeze never happened–I guess the sneeze was just scared out of me. And here it is, nearly three days later and my back still hurts if I move a certain way.
I was telling the same woman who took up Yoga that maybe if I was in better shape, I wouldn’t be so prone to stupid injuries. She and another woman–who is also older than I am and in fairly good physical shape–just chuckled at my naivety and shook their heads. No, they said, it doesn’t really matter how fit you are, age trumps everything. Darn! Now I’m afraid to exercise.
Once it cools down here a little in another month or so, I think I’ll get back into walking. I’ll probably do some major injury to various body parts, but I think I’ll feel good doing it, so maybe that WILL make me a masochist. In the meantime, my son–a 26-year-old hard body stud muffin–thinks it’s pretty funny that his mom threw out her back putting on her pantyhose. Now he has the saga of the sneeze to add to his "goofy mom stories." At least someone gets some pleasure out of my injuries, even if it’s not me!
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