post the sixty-ninth, 2013

when you're injured, if it's majorly painful, pain management's going to be your number one priority and pain is going to be the only annoyance worth spending any energy on. but, without the dampening effect of debilitating pain, the annoyances multiply.

obviously, even if it's not vast, pain is an annoyance. constant pain is a drag on energy, and focus is required to compartmentalize the pain in order to carry on with your normal activities.

another annoyance is that many normal activities get constrained. i'm not talking about exceptional endeavors such as training for a marathon. i'm talking about everyday stuff -- taking the stairs, walking quickly through the rain sans bumbershoot, wearing those fancy shoes, walking down the block for a coffee, grocery shopping. i think you get the idea. you're constantly reminded of your incapacity and that's just annoying. you want some time to think about something, without having to think about that.

beyond the everyday, it's annoying not to be able to do those extras like train for a marathon or play soccer or even just get a good workout in. it's annoying to think about fitness slipping away. it's annoying to watch other people having fun out jogging and playing. and, it's annoying to lack endorphins -- makes you do things like sit around on the couch and cry.

so many people are genuinely concerned about helping heal the injury and they all have ideas and input and things that worked for them and things that worked for their buddies. their concern per se isn't annoying. what's annoying is the contradictory nature of so many inputs. ice it. heat it. put it up. put it down. stabilize it. let it be. the annoy-factor of the inputs is inversely related to the number of injuries you've had -- if you've been injured before and have your own ideas, it's not so annoying to get contradictory inputs. if you don't have a lot of experience with injuries, you're looking for some solid help, and it's difficult to discern what you can do that might help.

of course, it's mostly annoying that you probably can't really do much to help. you just have to give your body time to heal.