All Knees Will Bow...Who's in Charge Here, Anyway?

[Guest]

by Mike Napierala, PT, SCS, CSCS, FAFS

The other day a patient, Sue, was sharing how she’d overdone some yard work and it flared up her shoulder. I asked Sue how long she'd done the yard work for.  Now you've gotta understand here that it was only taking little, light daily activities to bother Sue's shoulder to begin with.

That shoulder was already at least whispering some truths to her.  

She just didn't want to listen. I couldn't accept it.  

But, here's her answer to my question: FOUR HOURS!

Wow. Four hours? I thought, "What was she thinking?" but her comment was "Hey, I was feeling pretty good that day and it was so nice out. I needed to get the yard cleaned up."  

She'd had some warning signs with discomfort and pain with even lighter activities, but the excitement of a beautiful sunny day and a short memory got the best of her. She forgot who is really in charge here.

It reminded me of verses from the Bible in Philippians and Romans stating that, in the end, "all knees will bow." The point of the verses is that no matter what you think or believe or have seen or heard, in the end, God will "win" and the truth will prevail.  

For some reason this verse came to me and seemed to offer an otherwise unlikely sort of metaphor for Sue's shoulder dilemma.  

So often we think WE are in charge, don't we?  

I know I do.  Sue did too.

Her shoulder had "told" her BEFORE the yard work had ever started that it wasn't back to normal yet. It was trying to tell her it was in charge but she refused to listen.  

I reminded Sue that her choices in the future essentially are:

She can listen early on when that shoulder is whispering ouch OR

She can wait until it's screaming (in agony).

But in the end, her shoulder "wins."

 Every time, all the time, every day!

The plain truth is that Sue isn't in charge. I'm not in charge. Her Orthopedic Dr. isn't in charge.

The point of those New Testament verses is that sooner or later, ALL will come to the same conclusion that God has always been in charge and not them. Sue's shoulder, your injury, my injuries. Sooner or later they will remind us all of the truth that it's them, and not us, who is really in charge. You can go with a smile or you can go kicking and screaming; it's your choice.

If we listen carefully and "play nice" with those recovering injuries, then things can continue improving. If you turn a deaf ear on those little reminders and suggestions then maybe it'll take

much greater pain,

more swelling,

more giving way, and

more debilitating symptoms

for us to finally listen. But Sue's shoulder and your injury and my injuries will not back down quietly if we don't accept the simple truth that it is really THEM that are in charge!

Personally, I've chosen to accept those Biblical truths but I still find myself fighting it sometimes, trying to be in charge myself.

I make the same mistake with my body.  It's not easy to accept your body is telling you that it's not happy with your activity choices. But life is so much better when you listen!  

I'm sure Sue will listen for the whispers of that shoulder much better in the future.  

How 'bout you?