Slice of Life #20 Challenge Day 4/31:
Stumble
Bam!
Thud!
Crash!
First, I felt my wrist skid to the pavement, then my knees skin through the terse sidewalk.
In a dramatic, jarring fall, I found myself sprawled flat on the ground.
Oy!
I looked to my left, to my right. Ahead. Behind. I breathed a sigh of relief - no one was around to witness my fall.
(By the way, it wasn't ice that I slipped on. Nothing darted out in front of me. I simply wasn't paying attention and fell from a space of uneven part of a sidewalk.)
My wrist was bleeding, the blood already coagulating. I felt the sting of both my knees and already knew that my knees had to be bleeding, too.
At this point in my walk, I was over half-way on my route - too far to turn around. I slowly peeled myself off of the pavement; I kept walking and finished my walk.
As soon as I returned home, I tended to my wounds, cleaning and bandaging them. I was thankful I was only dealing with minor skin abrasions, nothing more.
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| With apologies to the graphic nature of this wound, my casualty of this morning's stumble |
This morning, I am left lingering with this question: How can I focus more on healing and what I need instead of worrying about who saw me stumble?
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This is SO true. I slipped on water that had spilled onto the floor just outside the elevator at the college where I teach not too long ago. In reality, it was hard to get up and I hurt on the whole side of my body; yet, I was more concerned with how I looked to my grad students! SO, I got up and said, "No problem." In reality, my hip and leg were black and blue for weeks! I too could use to refucus my energy
ReplyDeleteFirst, I’m glad you’re injuries—the physical ones—are minor, but I know that scrape stung. I’m sure you know what a klutz I am from my two black eyes photo at NCTE last fall filling my fall. As a klutz, I’ve learned to find the humor and the story in my falls. It helps. And as I read your piece this morning, I noticed the “oy!” and it gave me a sense of your voice. That’s such an upper Midwest expression.
ReplyDeleteThis is seriously such a good question. I love the way you move from the story itself, captured so well in your writing, to that larger question that's important to reflect on. I don't have any answers, but I know I do the same thing and wonder why.
ReplyDeleteWhat a great question! I remember falling on my morning walk about a year ago. It was all in slow motion and I, too, was initially concerned with witnesses. I hadn't thought that my reaction to the fall is also probably in line with my reactions to other things in life.
ReplyDeleteOuch! I'm glad you're ok, but that had to hurt - you described it well enough that I know it did. I'm interested in where you mind went when you got home. Your question will linger with me longer, I suspect, than your injuries will stay with you.
ReplyDeleteGreat post that offers a lot to ponder. I remember when I was in grad school. I was walk through the quad and when I got close to the library entrance I fell. I had a few scrapes and bumps, but nothing hurt worse than my pride...an undergrad looks up from their book and asks, "Are you ok ma'am?" Ma'am? Who was she talking to? Certainly not me! I wasn't even 50 yet! LOL.
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