Listen to Your Body

Listen to Your Body

The benefits of my recent surgery are many. In my previous post I mentioned the angelic nature of the efficient health workers. In this one I want to emphasize how important it is to listen to your body when it wants (then demands) your attention.

My life was seemingly running smoothly. But occasionally the pain in my left knee disrupted the flow. I pushed the disruption aside and behaved as if everything was okay. Instead of doing something about the problem I deluded myself by saying that somehow the pain will go away. Then the pain turned frequent and kept me from functioning at my optimum level.

I was unable to sit comfortably to meditate. I couldn’t go up and down the stairs using both legs. I couldn’t stand for for a long time. I limped, and eventually I couldn’t walk even a mile. As the ache was neither acute nor continuous I pooh-poohed my body’s whispers to do something about it. When the discomfort affected my concentration I sought medical help. The doctor recommended knee replacement surgery but I opted for Cortisone shots. They provided temporary relief. So I got Hyaluronic Acid injections which didn’t help either. The only option left was the surgery.

I had watched my mother-in-law go through the knee replacement surgeries twice. I remembered the pain. Oh the pain! The fear of pain made me keep postponing it. When I could no longer tolerate the pain that had turned constant and worse, I decided to get operated. 

It has been three weeks since I got my knee replacement surgery. I’m told that I would be completely healed by 6 months. I already feel so much better than the way I did the first week after. My steady and comparatively quick progress has surprised and pleased me.

I wish I had agreed to the surgery when, one year ago, my surgeon recommended it whom I trust. If I had taken care of this problem earlier the flow of my daily activities would not have disrupted the way it did. My daily practice would not have suffered. By the way, my final decision to get operated was also based on the marvelous advancement the medical sciences have and continue to make. The pain management has tremendously improved since my mother-in-law’s surgery fifteen years ago.

When a physical or emotional hinderance stops you from functioning normally, which happens to all of us, it makes sense to take care of it right away. Don’t be afraid of pain or discomfort, disease or sickness. These too are human traits. If you get inflicted instead of spending your precious energy avoiding it or pushing it away you must hold space for it as much as you do for any positive attribute.