For some of us, asking for help can be one of the most difficult parts of life. Especially when we need money or food.
I have always been pretty independent and able to take care of myself. When I moved to San Francisco that all changed. Initially, I had a difficult time finding full time work and had to ask my family for rent money. I was pretty unhappy about it, but so very grateful they were able and willing to help. I got myself on track with a job and was feeling pretty good about being able to pay my bills, despite the fact that I wasn't too thrilled about my work. I had a feeling something was about to happen to my leg and after 7 years of not having insurance I was once again eligible. Two weeks later I broke my foot. I was in such denial that It was broken that I hobbled around in extreme pain for two weeks before I finally went for x-rays. Talk about stubborn! In my defense though, there was never a particular moment of impact that said broken bone to me. Yes, I kicked my martial arts coach a hundred times on his superhero body of steel and I do recall a little bit of pain towards the end of our session. But a broken bone?! Come on! I tried acupuncture, Reiki, a general practitioner who thought I had gout (LOL!) and then finally a chiropractor. I'll never forget what my boss said to me. "You know Amanda, they can do some really amazing things with Western Medicine these days!" By that point, I was a miserable mess and just wanted to teleport right to a bone specialist and beg him to help me. And that's exactly what I did. I was diagnosed with a stress fracture and told I would be in a cast for two months. Again, I was not a happy camper, but being in a cast did ease the pain of my foot. I started freaking out about how I was going to get around and what was going to happen to me. I felt completely defenseless and was really afraid someone would take advantage of my situation and attack me. Instead, I received the exact opposite. Loving help and support from my friends. I felt guilty about putting them out and worried about being such a burden. To that they said, Amanda, get over it! We love you and want to help care for you! I was amazed.
I have always been pretty independent and able to take care of myself. When I moved to San Francisco that all changed. Initially, I had a difficult time finding full time work and had to ask my family for rent money. I was pretty unhappy about it, but so very grateful they were able and willing to help. I got myself on track with a job and was feeling pretty good about being able to pay my bills, despite the fact that I wasn't too thrilled about my work. I had a feeling something was about to happen to my leg and after 7 years of not having insurance I was once again eligible. Two weeks later I broke my foot. I was in such denial that It was broken that I hobbled around in extreme pain for two weeks before I finally went for x-rays. Talk about stubborn! In my defense though, there was never a particular moment of impact that said broken bone to me. Yes, I kicked my martial arts coach a hundred times on his superhero body of steel and I do recall a little bit of pain towards the end of our session. But a broken bone?! Come on! I tried acupuncture, Reiki, a general practitioner who thought I had gout (LOL!) and then finally a chiropractor. I'll never forget what my boss said to me. "You know Amanda, they can do some really amazing things with Western Medicine these days!" By that point, I was a miserable mess and just wanted to teleport right to a bone specialist and beg him to help me. And that's exactly what I did. I was diagnosed with a stress fracture and told I would be in a cast for two months. Again, I was not a happy camper, but being in a cast did ease the pain of my foot. I started freaking out about how I was going to get around and what was going to happen to me. I felt completely defenseless and was really afraid someone would take advantage of my situation and attack me. Instead, I received the exact opposite. Loving help and support from my friends. I felt guilty about putting them out and worried about being such a burden. To that they said, Amanda, get over it! We love you and want to help care for you! I was amazed.
It is so easy to think that we just have to suffer alone and that's just the way things are. We always have a choice in how we view uncomfortable situations. I want to thank my friends and family for helping me see it so differently.
A year has passed and I am ready to start kicking my coach and buddy Matt again! Stay tuned for some video on that...
3 comments:
Amanda, the blog looks awesome! Your broken foot anectode reminds me of my dad because he did the same when he broke his foot a while back and was too stuborn to see a Dr. (maybe its just kung fu people who are like that)
Hope you're getting some sunny days out in San Fran. :P
It really IS hard to ask for help, and I'm constantly amazed and awed at how generous people will be, if you'll let them.
I'm glad your foot's doing better, though!
You are right Natalia, Kung Fu people never wanna believe they're hurt! =)
Not a lot of sun action happening in San Fran right now. At least not in my neighborhood!
Post a Comment