It takes a lot to slow me down. I live my life at a pretty rapid pace, pausing only occasionally to catch my breath. But this past week the Universe has forced me to slow down a bit. How? By giving me a strained (hopefully not sprained) ankle .

I actually injured my ankle about 2 weeks ago, but have been in denial. There was no initial cause, simply an accumulation of too much activity. I increased my milage on my runs, started sprinting, took dance lessons, and went ice skating. All of which put just a little too much pressure on my ankle apparently. I felt the initial twinge of pain after my first sprint, but continued to ignore it. In fact I ignored the pain and the swelling for a whole week. It wasn’t until this past Saturday when I was stopped in my tracks. I went out for my normal 10 mile morning run pretending that my ankle didn’t hurt . Then later that night I proceeded to dance for hours until the pain was so bad that my date practically had to carry me out of there. On the way home that evening I knew what this meant. I was going to have to rest. And it sucks.

For someone who loves to be active and especially someone who adores (read: is addicted to) running, having to stay off my feet is torture. There is a huge part of me that wants to just say screw it, I’m going to run anyway. I would rather be in pain and get my run in, then stay home feeling idle and lazy.  But luckily I have some very wise people in my life that knocked some sense into me.

When I was debating just taping up my ankle and pushing through the pain I had another practitioner say to me, “How temporary do you want this injury to be?”

That statement hit me hard, and I knew exactly what she meant. I could give up my runs for a few weeks and let my ankle recover. Or I could push through and make my ankle a lot worse, putting myself out of commission for much longer. I knew I had to give it a rest.

Mentally this has been tough for me. My mornings don’t feel the same without my runs. But I keep reminding myself that this is only temporary. I also remind myself to be grateful that this is only a minor injury. It could be a lot worse. And really in the grand scheme of things taking some time off is good for my body and my mind.

As a medical practitioner I am well aware that I push my body too much at times. I’d be the first person to tell my patients that they need to slow down and be more gentle with themselves. Now I am forced to listen to my own advice. I am forced to face the ego part of me that wants to be fierce and go-go all the time. I have to face my own addictive tendencies towards runnings. And I have to find other ways to channel my energy and keep a positive mindset.

It’s only temporary has become my new mantra.

This got me thinking of how people tend to deal with pain in general, both physical and emotional pain. We all want to ignore it. We want to pretend it’s not there. And when the pain gets too much to bare we want a quick fix. We tend to dismiss all the little signs along the way that tell us that we are out of balance and something has to change. I see this all the time in my acupuncture and in my coaching practice. Patients don’t want to change their lifestyle until they are diagnosed with something terrible and are forced to. People would rather load themselves up on medication then make the necessary changes to their diet. When faced with emotional pain most people either tend to repress it, stuff it, or numb it. God forbid we feel it, process it, and deal with it.

What if we all had the attitude that the pain is only temporary. That if properly cared for the pain would eventually cease. If we cultivated a sense of patience and devoted our time (and yes money) to making sure we do the things necessary to heal, it would get better. For me this means not only resting me ankle, but giving myself daily acupuncture treatments, epson salt baths, getting chiropractic adjustments, eating only alkalizing foods to reduce the inflammation, and doing some major mental processing around my addiction to running. I am willing to devote the time and money to my own healing and recovery, because I want to get better. And while the healing process might be mentally painful for me, I know it’s only temporary and I will be better for it in the long run (no pun intended).

What pain are you ignoring in your life? What are you afraid to deal with or look it? Maybe your health is suffering and you really need to do a detox to get rid of the toxins in your body. Remember the detox is only temporary. Maybe you still haven’t processed that break up from 3 years ago and it’s ruining your current one. Remember that taking the time to heal the past and deal with your issues will only be temporary. This week I challenge you to take responsibility for your life and tackle that issue that needs to be dealt with. Don’t ignore it, don’t try to numb it, and stop looking for a quick fix. Face it head on, as uncomfortable and ugly as it may be. And it won’t be long before you are on the other side of it feeling healed, healthy, and happy.