Time For Healing

I am addicted to exercise and to testing how far I can push myself. I have been working out now for almost 27 years and I think I push myself harder now than I used to back in the day. Something inside of me just doesn't agree that age should slow me down.
Of course, with all of the exercise that I do, comes my fair share of aches and pains. I can't remember a day that some part of my body hasn't hurt, and I have experienced some pretty bad injuries along the way as well. It doesn't matter if you are in your twenties or fifties, if you exercise, train hard or push your body to it's limit, you will feel pain. Sooner or later, you will hurt something along the way. Hurt is inevitable; in the gym, in competitions and in life.
I remember a time when I was in my twenties, a lot of people would say to me, "Just wait until you are in your thirties Nick, you'll slow down". My thirties came and went and now I am forty years old and people still say the same things to me. Most of the guys in the gym don't believe me when I tell them how old I am. They all say that I look like I am in my twenties, and I have to be honest, I feel better now than when I was in my twenties.
The thing that I have learned most, with all of my aches and pains and injuries along the way, is how to heal. Healing is vital. Being out of commission can be a great struggle for a lot of people. It means that you can't do what you once did and that is a hard thing to swallow if you are custom to constantly pushing yourself. For me, it means weeks, if not months of training just to get back to the level of exercise that I was at prior to the injury. That sucks! But if I choose to let myself heal properly, then I am also allowing myself to grow stronger. It also gives me the time to learn from my mistakes that led me to the injury. I can do things to help speed up the healing process, but ultimately the body's healing capability will take as long as it needs to on it's terms. Time itself is the best healer.
Healing has a purpose. It repairs what has been broken. I know people who have ignored their pains and tried to continue to push their selves at the same level of exercise. That can only make matters worse, at the gym and in life as well.
If I had to choose between a broken heart and a hurt knee, I would take the knee easily. I have hurt my knee multiple times lifting too much weight and I know how long my body will take to heal it now. I hate it when my heart gets broken simply because it doesn't happen that often. But when it does, it feels like it will never be the same. The pain of not knowing how long it will take to heal makes it feel like it is not even worth it to allow it to heal. But with proper healing, anything can be stronger than what it was before.
Pain doesn't have to last forever, we just need to allow the healing process to take it's place.

1 Corinthians 9:24-27

Don’t you realize that in a race everyone runs, but only one person gets the prize? So run to win! All athletes are disciplined in their training. They do it to win a prize that will fade away, but we do it for an eternal prize. So I run with purpose in every step. I am not just shadowboxing. I discipline my body like an athlete, training it to do what it should. Otherwise, I fear that after preaching to others I myself might be disqualified.

Peace!