A Lesson from a Pain in the Neck

Last Wednesday started out pretty normal for me, but by the middle of the day, I found myself in a lot of pain. It was strange because I couldn’t pinpoint what I had done to cause my neck to hurt so badly. I tried massage, bed rest, warm compresses, and pain killers, but nothing seemed to alleviate my discomfort. I had to keep my head in one position because even the slightest turn felt like I was being stabbed in the neck. It would have been much easier if I could have stayed home in bed, but there were responsibilities that required my attention. One of those responsibilities involved me driving. Of course, in order to drive, you have to be able to turn your head from left to right, and you need to be able to look behind when backing out of a parking space. So I did what needed to be done. I tried to move my eyes without moving my neck whenever I could, and only moved my neck when it was absolutely necessary. Whenever I had to move it, I found myself in the kind of pain that makes you talk to yourself and breathe out loud. It was serious.
By Thursday evening, I was regretting that I hadn’t made an appointment to see my physician and beginning to think I’d need to visit an urgent care after hours medical center but I decided to pop two more pain killers and try and sleep it off. When I got up on Friday morning, there were signs of improvement. I could turn my head to the right with little pain. Turning to the left was not as bad either. I’m happy to report that by Saturday night I was back to normal.
Now, guess what I took from that experience? Well here goes: In our lives we all have our own “to do” lists. We are all striving to accomplish our goals. However, there are times when self-doubt creeps in and has us looking for answers in all the wrong directions. We look for someone or something to bail us out of uncomfortable situations. Quite often, we are ready to give up, postpone, or change our goals the minute our comfort zone becomes compromised. We start trying to look back to see if there is still room for us in a more familiar place, even though we know that we’ve outgrown it. We begin to prepare for defeat as soon as one thing doesn’t go according to our plan.
Now imagine how much we could accomplish if we felt like we were being stabbed in the neck whenever we found ourselves looking backwards with regret, or looking around with worry, self-pity and anxiety. Imagine if we were forced to look straight ahead at our goals and focus completely on doing whatever it takes to accomplish them. I don’t know anyone who enjoys pain, so I’d guess that we’d have a lot more people achieving their goals and living their dreams. So, I’m hoping that all who read this will keep looking ahead at their goals. I hope that when they feel hopeless, down and out, or begin to feel like it would be easier to retreat and abandon their dreams, they will be reminded of my pain in the neck. I hope the reminder will help them to quickly get their head back in the right place—focused on the mission ahead. Then my mysterious pain would not have been in vain. Keep your heads up!