Back in 2013, when Tot was 3 months old, I tore my achilles tendon. A full tear.
Since then, I have worked on developing my left calf muscle. Its size is significantly smaller than the right side. I would do leg lifts at the gym, all the calf machines, and whatever I could do to make it bigger. Has it happened? Vanity aside, (not being symmetrical), I still feel pretty weak on that side, and it is still much smaller.
Well, for 3 months, the back of my ankle has bothered me. I could see the remnants of my surgery as it started to work its way out (after 7 years). I made an appointment with Dr. Waslewski (my orthopedic surgeon) so he could look at it. He found the culprit, and he said that these would have never dissolved.
Two little wire sutures
While there, I asked him about developing my calf back as it just hasn’t returned to normal. He suggested returning to Troy at Physical Therapy for an evaluation.
I showed Troy what I have been doing (DAILY! for seven years), and he immediately said, “You’re knee is bent when you are doing these lifts. This means you have developed your lower calf and ankle but NOT the calf. Try straightening your knee.”
Holy cow. He also showed me some other tweaks on what I had been doing wrong.
This is so much like life. We go along doing what we’ve always done, thinking that we are doing the right thing. Then, an objective observer notes a teeny change that would help. If we listen, the difference is profound.
Here’s a quote from Dr. Louis Newman about the Jewish concept of teshuvah, or, repentance. Remember, a simple change must be a gradual process to take hold. ” Here’s what he said:
…think about this in terms of a 360 degree circle, if you’re headed in one direction and you turn only one degree or two degrees to the right or to the left, over a long period of time — it may be a very slight turn, but over an extended period of time, if you now walk in that direction, you’ll end up in an utterly different place than if you extend that line outward infinitely. ”
Now, I know that simply straightening my knee is not about repenting from doing something sinful. BUT, it is a great analogy for the small changes we can make in our lives to grow. I had been doing my physical recovery completely wrong for so long, that it became my “right.” This is how sin can be. We do something wrong for so long that it just becomes a habit.
What will I do now? I’ll engage in small practices daily. They won’t be long; 5 minutes of some new exercises with a “straight” leg. But, in time, I will see all the difference. May we all remember that engaging in small changes and creating new habits can literally help us thrive.