Bouncing Back from Injury with a Positive Mindset
Getting injured can be debilitating, not only due to the physical toll it exacts, but also because of the mental strain it causes. Often, it is the latter that makes recuperation more difficult. This is especially when negativity sets in. When that happens, the road to recovery becomes long and arduous. It often involves long stretches in rehab. Injured individuals often take a long time before they start trusting their bodies and capabilities again.
Basketball star Derrick Rose is a perfect example. An MVP in just his third season, Rose has battled a myriad of injuries, the worst being his torn left ACL, which he ruptured in a playoff game in 2012. It set in motion a string of subsequent injuries that eventually took the best out of the former Bulls guard. The Chicago Tribune’s K.C. Johnson reported last year that Rose took an excused absence from the Cleveland Cavaliers, with a source stating that the injuries had taken a large toll on the Chicago native.
Positive Mindset, Positive Attitude
If injuries could break down a high-profile athlete, it could easily happen to everyone, including you. That being said, there is no reason why you can’t bounce back from serious injury. However, a positive mindset is absolutely necessary, especially for injuries that need extensive rehabilitation, such as Rose’s torn ACL.
This positive attitude is vital because getting injured can send you on a downward spiral, where anxiety and stress begin to take control. This could make it all the more difficult to recover from your injury. Injuries are inevitable and can happen to everyone. Accepting this is the only way to turn it into a positive.
That’s exactly what the NFL player Ryan Shazier has done since suffering a potentially fatal spinal contusion that left him paralyzed from the waist down. Shazier got injured in December of last year, with doctors fearing that he might never get to walk again. A mere four months later, the Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker, with help from his fiancé, walked gingerly onstage at the 2018 NFL Draft. Steelers general manager Kevin Colbert credits Shazier’s positive attitude as being crucial to his recovery. Colbert even believes that there is “no ceiling” to the 25-year-old’s recovery, noting how hard he attacks his rehab every single day.
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Perspective
It also pays to put things in perspective, which is exactly what the golfer Rory McIlroy did as he recovered from a ruptured ligament in his ankle. Ladbrokes documented in their list of famous sports injuries that the Northern Irishman suffered his injury in 2015 while playing soccer with his friends. As a result, the then world number 1 was unable to defend his crown at The Open Championship that year and struggled to a 17th place finish later on at the PGA Championship.
That he even managed to play in that season-ending major is testament to not only to his dedication to getting better, but also to his high-spirited attitude during recovery. He was at peace with his injury, and missing time from his sport gave McIlroy a whole new appreciation of the other things in life. “Missing the Open and WGC-Bridgestone gave me a good sense of perspective; that there’s a whole big world out there,” admitted the young golfer.
Staying positive in the face of an injury is easier said than done. But it can be done, and the first step is acceptance.
Related Article: “Fixing it” Prolonging Anxiety.
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Guest Writer Bio
FarahOriana is a sports journalist for her hometown community paper. She was formerly an in-state two-sport star in high school, excelling in both baseball and woman’s basketball. Her career, though, was cut short by consecutive torn ACLs.
