I’m back from an unplanned blog break. I had a lesson in things not going as planned this past weekend, which is always tough for a control-freak like myself. We had planned to go away for my birthday weekend, and were practically out the door on Friday when I had a back episode that immobilized me with painful spasms. I know, somewhat shocking for a yoga teacher and outdoor enthusiast to have debilitating back pain, and somewhat embarrassing too. I’ll spare you the details of my condition, but it’s happened before. Which means I know how to deal with it, and I do everything possible to prevent it from happening, but sometimes it comes out of nowhere. Which is how it arrived on Friday. Wham.

So I basically did not get out of bed for 2 days, and husband-on-crutches was my caregiver. Which is in a way, funny. Luckily my 4-year old daughter stepped up and was an amazing little helper; poor thing asked me, “Mommy, will you need crutches too?” My body couldn’t move much, but my mind wouldn’t stop racing – until someone inside my head yelled, Alright already, stop the pity party and get on with it. I couldn’t do anything I had planned, or anything “normal”, so I might as well relax and take advantage of it. I slept. I stopped fighting the pain and the situation so my back could start healing. I read like I haven’t read since I finished the Twilight series. I counted my blessings on my birthday in bed.

It’s such a rude awakening to go from feeling vibrant and being active (a good state to be in on your birthday, right?), to being immobilized by pain. It makes me wonder if a Higher Power is trying to tell me something, by bringing my life to a screeching halt: So you think you’ve got big plans for your birthday, huh? Well, here’s a different kind of gift – lay on your back for 2 days straight and use the time to reflect on just how much you have to be thankful for. I definitely misinterpreted this gift at first, with an entire WHY ME saga starring, well, me. But it became an opportunity of a different sort, when I changed my perspective. When life gives you lemons, make lemonade. I’m probably too much of a planner-girl to ever be an expert at this, but I’m going to keep trying.

I do have big blog plans, so stay tuned for a foodie February on Cowgirl Yoga. Namaste.