It happens to the best of us – no matter how careful we are, some accidents are inevitable. This is par for the course when it comes to any form of serious athletic training. Feeling disheartened over lost training time and lost progress is normal, but instead of dwelling on the negative, focusing on what injuries can teach us can help us in both our fitness journeys and daily life.

1. Injuries release us from the burden of expectations

An injury often means being side-tracked from your original goals and expectations. However, that doesn’t equate to never setting new goals or not prioritising accomplishment. Rather, injuries allow you to relax your hold on your original expectations so that you can reassess your current state, and begin moving forward from where you stand now. Steadfastness may be a strength, but so is flexibility.

2. Injuries provide an ego check

In training, you may end up pushing yourself beyond what you can safely accomplish in pursuit of your goals, and get injured as a result. While far from being the most pleasant wake-up call, getting injured in this way highlights not only your limits, but also specific issues that you may not have been aware of that may require extra attention. Did you honestly have any business training that intensely? Remember: every single one of your athlete heroes “earned” their right to train at that level, so be sure to keep yourself grounded.

3. Injuries can help you better understand your identity

When focused solely on your training regimen, it’s easy to neglect other aspects of your life. Being forced to take a step back allows you to see the bigger picture, and lets you redirect your energy into other past-times or passions that are an integral part of who you are. As hardcore as you think might be, you are not and should not be defined by your training. Your family, friends and other pursuits are just as important, so don’t be so quick to forget about them.

Although injuries can be inconvenient, painful or even debilitating, focusing on what they can teach you and how you can improve from them helps you keep your head above the proverbial water, and helps you to keep soldiering on. Before you know it, you’ll be back on your feet asking for more!

References

https://breakingmuscle.com/fitness/injury-can-be-a-beautiful-thing