GETTING BACK IN THE GAME

I love this metaphor! And I'm not even a sports fan!!

The word game can be interpreted a number of ways--an organized sport, a pick-up softball game kids play in the park when everybody else has gone home, cards or board games, any activity that relies on using knowledge, skill, and dexterity. Like LIFE, right?

So, here's a question for you: Anybody who hasn't gotten sidelined some time or other in your life? Raise your hand. Anybody. Any time. No one?

Uh-huh, that's the way I see it, too. Getting sidelined isn't just about getting taken out of the game because we couldn't score/run fast/hit hard--it's about just not being able to go on. Period.

Examples, you say? Okay, here goes:

• illness--everything from minor stuff that goes away in a week to stuff that lingers on
• injury (like carpal tunnel, sprained ankle, broken bone)
• accident (on or off the job, just something that was an accident)
• major disease--think COVID in its early days; that's the most recent one, but we've had flu epidemics probably forever, and other viruses (there's a whole alphabet of them); plus chronic health issues
• life things: lay-offs, downsizing of businesses, bankruptcy, foreclosures

I'll stop there, because we're starting to go down the tubes here. Suffice it to say, we've likely
all "been there, done that" some time or other, to one degree or another. And the best thing we can say is, "it ain't pretty, but it does finally end."

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Let's go on from there--"it does finally end."

What happens when you realize you're back in the game? When you know--or maybe only suspect/hope that you're really able to go on, if not just like you used to do (depends on how old you are) but at least something resembling that time?

For me, it's a cause for celebration. Bring on the bells/whistles/balloons/brass band . . . I may not be able to party, but by gum, I'm excited to be out of the woods.

My COVID leftovers included a major loss of physical energy. Mental seemed okay--I could think, plan, write, paint. But my body couldn't quite get out of the doldrums. Short bursts of energy were what I could count on. So, I learned to use what I had.

Recently one of my doctors changed a medication I'd recently started, and which seemed to do nothing at all, as proved by a blood draw. Hence the change. Talk about difference between night and day! I began to sleep better, have more energy during the day--and all day--found myself making plans for bigger projects, reading more. . . .

Now I'm not training for a marathon or a triathalon. Nor do I have plans to visit 10 European countries in 10 days. Not even paint the barn before breakfast. And I have to admit, my Snoopy dancing isn't up to speed yet. But the outlook is clear and bright and as the old song said, "there's a smile on my face for the whole human race."

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That's my experience of getting back in the game.

Here's hoping you can get back into your own game, whatever it is, and that you find the level you're playing at now is just right.

Blessings,

Thursday's Child