Lessons From a Sprained Ankle

On Saturday I got home from a two week excursion in Scotland with my best friend and her mom. It was my first time leaving the continent of North America, experiencing jet lag, and experiencing the struggle of trying to sleep on a red-eye flight. It's safe to say though, that up until this point in my life, that was the most amazing trip I've ever gone on!

The view from our backyard in Moffat, Scotland.

On the third day of our trip, we decided to trek out to Grey Mare's Tail, which is a waterfall about half an hour from the small town of Moffat that we stayed in. It's not one of those waterfalls that's right there. You have to climb a mountain... hill... thing. My best friend and I had a hard time determining what constitutes a mountain. It was big, okay?! While we were climbing our way up the stone stairs, we met a woman who told us that if we wanted to hike all the way to the waterfall, it would take about an hour and a half. We were only about a quarter of the way up at that point, and our lungs were on fire and our thighs were burning, so we knew we weren't going to go all the way to the top.

We stayed at that one quarter of the way up point because we could see the waterfall in the distance from there, took some pictures and selfies, and then started our hike back down to the car.

'It's always easier going down than up...' is what I had been reminding myself as we had climbed the hill-mountain-thing.

At least that's what they say.

The stone stairs were narrow, so it was suggested that I walk down the hill-mountain-thing instead of staying on the stairs.

Bad idea, fam. Baaaad idea.

I don't remember much, other than walking one moment, and the next being on the ground with excruciating pain in my right leg, from my foot up to my knee. I'd also heard a crack as I fell, as did my best friend, who was a good meter or two ahead of me.

Nice.

I was sitting on the ground with my best friend and her mom standing over me, none of us really knowing what to do. I was trying not to cry, scream, throw up, or pass out. And I couldn't stop thinking about the fact that my parents were a six and a half hour flight away from me.

While I was sitting there, wondering how I'd continue to make it back down to the car, I thought to myself 'Welp. I think I just broke my leg on a mountain. In Scotland. At least this can't really get any worse.'

I WAS WRONG.

Legitimately, at that very moment, it started to rain!!!

Great.

(No exaggerations here btw - this is all real. It felt [and sounds] like a movie scene.)

Anyway, blah blah blah, fast forward. I got down the hill-mountain-thing, went to the cottage hospital in our town, went to the local surgery (UK for doctor's office), aaand ended up being diagnosed with a severely sprained ankle.

Through all of this however, I've learned something. Two things, really. Or three.

Firstly, God can use any situation to teach His children a lesson. He's got a sense of humour like that. I've learned something from my sprained ankle. Amazing.

Secondly, I've learned not to fall down mountainsides. Ever. It's something that your friends and family will remind you of at every possible opportunity. Plus it's painful.

The third lesson that I've learned through this experience is that sometimes I need to slow down. And I don't mean when I was going down the hill-mountain-thing; I was already walking pretty slowly, thankyouverymuch.

For the rest of our vacation, I had to admit when I was in pain and needed to walk (limp) slower, or when I needed to take a rest day so my ankle could have a break before going on another Scotland adventure. And I hated having to be the weakest link, and having to admit my weakness. But it was so necessary - for well-being of my ankle.

This whooole situation has reminded me that we can often get so busy and fill our schedules completely and we end up having no time to spend time with the Lord, or to take care of ourselves. I can be so guilty of this, especially when the school year starts (aka on Monday). 

To conclude this rollercoaster of a blog post, I'm promising myself that I will learn how to slow down this coming year at school. I'm going to be taking classes (duh), working in the library, preparing for my graduation recital in the spring, and doing my internship. I don't want my final year of Bible college to be spent stressing out and being spread so thin that I neglect my relationship with God, my mental health, my sanity, and my friendships.

I know that slowing down is going to be a process, and something that I'll have to remind myself to do, but my sprained ankle that's still currently hurting is serving as a constant reminder of this commitment to myself. Hopefully it'll heal soon though, and at that point, I'll be relying on friends and the grace of the Lord to remind me of how necessary it is to slow down.