Do you remember the last time you got a cold, and you thought it couldn’t get any worse? After that, you began to feel better. Before getting better, there’s a period when getting worse happens.
When you’re feeling sick, nobody wants to get worse; you want to get better. But what if I told you the path to healing sometimes means getting worse? Wait. Before you throw your hands up in disgust, let me explain why something worthwhile waits at the end of the pain rainbow.
But it’s not a pot of gold. Sorry.
Getting Worse Story
While studying accounting at college for no good reason other than out of boredom, my grandfather died. My father called to tell me about the funeral, and after he hung up, shock took over. I wasn’t close to him, but it sucked all the same.
After getting over the initial shock, I realized a clash of dates. The funeral and my finals fell on the same day. The funeral in the morning, the exam in the afternoon. Interesting. How was I going to handle it, seeing that I had no choice?
But my mother had a plan. After the funeral, she would take me out to lunch to act as a buffer. But grief had different ideas. I sat down to lunch, trying to recall the knowledge needed for the exam, then I lost my shit. Crying uncontrollably, I mumbled through the tears that I had forgotten it all, and I was going to fail.
Once I regained control of my senses, my mother drove me to my exam. Sitting at my desk, while the test paper was demanding my full attention, I stared at the heavens and said,” This one is for you, pop.”
I got an A.
Rarely does getting worse happen on the same day as getting better, but it did. Walking through the fire sometimes steals you for what’s next—a classic case of getting worse before getting better.
Getting Better Story
It took me almost 3 weeks to discover my double hernia.
I thought I’d hurt myself during exercise until I looked down and realized that the bump shouldn’t be there. Another 3 weeks or more of the rigmarole of scheduling surgery meant six weeks of constant pain.
Yet naïve me didn’t realize that surgery and recovery pain were to follow. Wow, the first three days after surgery were rough. I was given a nerve blocker for pain management, which left my left leg numb for 40 hours after surgery. I couldn’t walk without assistance and needed help with all my basic functions.
The pain at each surgical site was no fun, and neither were the pain meds that didn’t help much. However, after the first 3 days, I’ve been getting better each day.
Surgery was the only option as there was a real risk of serious complications. But the surgery meant my health would worsen before it improved. That’s the goal of most surgeries, I would imagine, pain for your health gain.
Next, I’ll bring it back to exercise.
The Ultimate Worst & Better Scenario
Exercise is a stress. Depending on the dose and your stress level before exercising, it could be good or bad stress. Let’s assume for a moment that it’s good.
While lifting, you’re breaking down muscle fibers, your muscles are fatigued, and your breathing is heavy. None of that feels great, unless you enjoy punishment. For a temporary time, you’re getting worse. But after you refuel and get a good night’s sleep, you come back a little stronger than before.
Your muscle fibers heal, and flextime is more fun. Not only that, but your health also improves as you build your suit of armor to withstand life’s arrows.
But to get there, you need to feel worse.
It’s similar to my grandfather’s funeral; life throws hardships our way, which brings a great deal of unwelcome stress. We wonder why us, and if it’s ever going to end. But every storm runs out of rain. Then, as time passes, we look back and realize we got through it.
Hopefully, alive, kicking, and a little more emotionally resilient than before.
Wrapping Up
Sometimes, it gets worse before it gets better. But if we can endure the suck, we will, for the most part, be stronger for it. If I can do it, I believe you can too.
Leave a Reply