I dislocated my knee skateboarding on Tuesday.
I wish I could brag I was attempting something really dangerous like jumping down a huge set of stairs, but in reality I just turned wrong while doing a simple 180 on the ramp.
My leg went one way, my body went the other. My kneecap popped out of place and I screamed in agony as I hit the ground.
My kneecap was jutting out of the side of my leg, so I took a deep breath, knocked it back into place and got up and continued skating.
It was a beautiful afternoon in Port Hardy.
The sun was shining, zero clouds in sight and my friends were all at the skatepark having fun.
There was no way I was going to go back home, play video games and feel sorry for myself.
I could sit here and type up an angry diatribe, crying and complaining about how I won’t be able to skate for the next few weeks, but what good would that do?
When life knocks you down - and it will, repeatedly - get back up.
Even if you only have one leg to stand on like I do right now - get back up.
Getting injured while playing sports obviously sucks, but you have to take the good with the bad.
For example, if you never knew pain, how would you know what joy feels like?
You wouldn’t - because everything in life is a balance.
The Chinese have a philosophy called yin and yang, which describes how seemingly opposite or contrary forces may actually be complementary, interconnected, and interdependent.
The yin and yang is a beautiful analogy for the intangible dualities of life.
I’m getting off track here, enough with the random philosophizing, let’s get back to reality.
My knee hurts, it’s swollen to the size of a softball and I won’t be able to really skate like I want to for a few weeks.
What should I do with my spare time now?
Maybe I’ll read a few good books and work on my tan.
Maybe I’ll watch Good Will Hunting for the millionth time.
Maybe I’ll go for brisk walks around town and drink slurpees.
Maybe I’ll just say screw it, keep skating on my swollen knee and work on tricks that don’t require my leg to bend, like riding the ramps and learning to manual.
The possibilities are endless so long as you keep your mind open to anything, everything, all the in-between.