10/27/2025
A recent post on John’s FB page got me thinking about my own disc herniation several years ago. I remember when I was in the most pain and I wasn’t sure if I was ever going to find my way out of it how I had some interesting thoughts. I wondered if I would ever be able to jog again, or paddle board, or exercise, or garden. I was thinking of the things that I might have to give up altogether and may never be able to do again. One thing that popped into my head was that I would never be able to bowl again. And even in that severe pain state I was able to chuckle at myself because giving up bowling wouldn’t be a problem since… I don’t bowl. Unless you count once every few decades. Letting go of the idea of being able to do things that I had taken for granted was hard, even if it was something I didn’t really care about.
This weekend Diego and his girlfriend came for a visit. We decided to shake things up and change the norm and go out and do something fun. Our original plans had to be diverted so we ended up at an unexpected place… a bowling alley. So I bowled. Just as well as I remember ever bowling in the past, maybe even better (I was always really bad). I had zero pain. I was able to enjoy my family, have a good laugh, and roll a (kind of) heavy bowl down a lane. I woke up this morning with soreness that could have been from the bowling or the rare jog I finally got to do this weekend. I’m not sure which. But zero back pain.
So if you are working your way through an injury and you aren’t sure where it will lead you. If you think this is it and you may have to give up on things that you love and things that you really don’t care about at all, then I highly recommend you add more JFB MFR to your life and just see where it takes you. It might lead you to a place you don’t expect to go, doing a thing you don’t care a lot about, leaving with a knowing that even THAT you can do.
