Road To Recovery
"You look just fine", "You should be over that by now", It wasn't even that bad"...all things that I have heard while on my road to recovery. I was injured back in 2007, and the injury was so severe that I will be in recovery for the rest of my life. My injury was a physical one, but mental trauma in the form of PTSD accompanied it. When I contact a company requesting to speak about recovery I usually get asked how can I relate to their demographic. Well, here's how:
- No matter what you are recovering from, there are more people out there than you think recovering from the same thing. October is breast cancer awareness month. I don't have breast cancer, nor do I know anyone that has had breast cancer. However, I can empathize with breast cancer survivors on multiple levels. I use to constantly ask "why did I have to be injured?". When I was in the military we trained day and night to go to combat. Even with all of this training something out of my control nearly ended my life. We can eat right, exercise, and avoid drugs/alcohol but cancer is often blindsides us. We have no control over what happens to us, but we can recover...together
- Alcohol/drug abuse centers are very protective of who they let into their facilities. Addicts/alcoholics spend a large part of their time in recovery. This is why groups like alcoholics/narcotics anonymous have members who haven't used in decades. Just one slip and these individuals become the person they fought so hard not to be. I am also in recovery from opioid addiction. Years have gone by since I've used any opioids, but I know if I take just one that things will never be the same again for me. So I drive in the carpool lane with other addicts on the road to recovery. It is a highway that doesn't have an end in site...and it's a good thing!
- I currently live in Atlanta, Georgia. Home of the Atlanta Falcons, and 2018 MLS Champions Atlanta United. These are athletes who make millions of dollars playing sports and even more millions in endorsements. When an injury occurs, these athletes have access to the top physical therapist in the city. Some athletes think about the millions they could lose by not playing and rush their recovery. This usually results in making a injury worse because it isn't given the proper time to heal. We saw a situation similar to this with Kevin Durant when he came back to play in the championship series in 2019. He ended up with an achilles injury that costed him a year of his career. On the road to recovery we must ride until it is time for us to exit. If we take the wrong exit we end up in a part of town we do not want to be in.
The road to recovery is full of pot holes, traffic, and long strips of stormy weather. You may see other people take exits and think about how that should be you. When it is your time to exit, you will know. The best thing about being on this road is the people you share the road with. Make friends, make moments count, and when you get to where you want to be remember your recovery!
