Ever had a knee arthroscopy? It’s a small operation on your knee to scope for any problems, loose cartilage, and other problems. It’s basically a cleanup operation, to make sure your knee runs smoothly and doesn’t get ‘caught’ by loose bits of ligament, loose bodies etc.
I recently had this operation, (for the 4th time) to try and remove a loose piece of cartilage floating around the joint, and it’s taught me a few things about myself and life in general. I want to share these things with you, and share what this experience has shown me.
Don’t give up, no matter the situation
I first had the problem with my knee a few years back, I can’t remember exactly how I did the injury, but it must have been one of the following, which I was actively doing at the time..
- Freerunning
- Judo
- Rock Climbing
- Jogging
- And other forms of exercise.
All pretty damaging to knees, specially without proper care and attention. I did those things because they were fun, and at the time didn’t see any problems with it, but life is very short. The problem I developed with my knee was a simple loose piece of cartilage floating in the joint, but that stopped me from being able to run, exercise the knee and a lot more.
For years it was a problem, and after 3 failed knee arthroscopes, I was starting to lose faith that it could be removed. All the things I wanted to do, I was starting to believe I could never do again. Then, about a week ago (May 2014) I had my 4th operation. This time, they fixed the problem.
When I woke up, they showed me the lump in a little glass jar that had been bothering me for all these years. I broke down and started crying, it was such a relief. All my motivation and happiness surged back up as I envisioned myself doing the things I’d been itching to do for these years, a skydiving course, more rock climbing, etc.
The point is that you should never give up. No matter what your situation is, or what you may think about something, there is always a chance, always a way through it all. This is something that it took me years to learn, because sometimes you do have to wait for things to go your way, but you should never give up.
Be thankful for your health
If you’re reading this now, be thankful for whatever state of health you’re in. You’re alive, after all. In the time you’ve read this post, more than a few people have died around the world, but you’re still here. Be thankful for that, and realize how lucky you are to be alive right now.
You could do anything you want.. if you want to jump out of a plane, you can do that. There’s nothing stopping you, and sometimes we only realize how free we are when something takes away that freedom. Before I injured my knee, I could have done anything.
I could have skydived, traveled, literally anything I can imagine, but I didn’t. I just stayed around the area I lived and did hardly anything to work towards my dreams, it’s only after having that freedom taken from me, in the form of an injury that I realized it was there in the first place.
A knee arthroscopy can change your view on life..
Life is entirely subjective. All that matters is how the experience feels to you, if you enjoy traveling, go and do that. If you really enjoy working in an office, then by all means do that too. But please be honest with yourself, and really only do the things you do actually enjoy.
Sometimes people don’t realize how just simple things like waling are so special. It’s only when you wake up form an operation and find that you can’t walk very easily that you understand exactly how free you normally are. You can do anything..
Life is too short to waste your time, don’t wait for your health and freedoms to fade away, enjoy life now while you can and make the most of every day, after all, if you live each day like your last, one day, you’ll be right.