Three months into my rehab I was getting very frustrated; I wasn’t making any progress.
Due to Covid restrictions my shoulder surgery was pushed from March to mid-May. And I was hoping that come May or June I’d be back on the golf course making fun of myself. No such luck.
The surgery went well, and my doctor suggested I start physical therapy right away. He knew that I wanted to get back to “normal†as quickly as possible and so I went to therapy twice a week. Three months passed and I was nowhere near my goal of playing golf again. I realized that the physical therapist wasn’t pushing me hard enough and I didn’t really push myself when doing my exercises at home.
John Maxwell says that Recovery depends on Attitude and Action. We can recover fast or slow from whatever setback we are facing. It is our personal choice.
Knowing that I had to change something to get healthy again I called my doctor’s office and asked that I be referred to a different physical therapist, one who really pushes his clients.
When I arrived at my first appointment, I realized that everything was going to be a bit different with this physical therapy practice. To start off, it was located in a YMCA, not a fancy corporate suite. It was an open space, basically a basketball court turned into a gym. There was exercise equipment everywhere and you could see that people were being pushed really hard. A number of pro athletes were there rehabbing from torn ACL’s or rotator cuffs, and I knew that their livelihood depended on a quick recovery.
I changed my attitude the minute I started with this new physical therapist. I wanted him to push me and I was willing to push myself. Every week they would give me new exercises to work on. Most sessions went 90 minutes; at the old place I was sent home after 30 minutes. The sessions would end with me getting an ice pack wrapped around my shoulder. I needed it because I was leaving in pain.
At home I started my morning with one hour of stretching exercises. In the afternoon I’d stretch and lift weights for another hour. After 2-3 weeks I started noticing dramatic progress. My range of motion was coming back as was my strength. I even started hitting golf balls during my PT sessions and I was told to continue on the driving range. This week I was told to go and play two rounds of 9-holes. Once the rain passes through, I plan to do that.
If you are human, you are struggling with something right now; we all are. We are all trying to recover from some type of setback be it personal, professional, emotional, relational, financial, etc., etc. So, what are you doing about it? Are you willing to combine the right attitude with action to recover quickly? Or are you procrastinating, blaming someone else, “woe is meâ€!
Part of my recovery was realizing that I had to initiate a change, find a different physical therapist and that the change would be really painful. And along with that action I also had to change my attitude, take on personal responsibility and push myself through the pain.
The choice was mine; it’s yours too! Good luck!
John Maxwell’s video on Recovery inspired me to write this piece. Its less than 2 minutes in length but worth watching and forwarding to a friend who is struggling to recover.
Watch here->