I don’t know about anybody else, but I am the Queen of jumping back into things too soon. I am a horrible patient. It doesn’t matter if I have the flu and I am laid up in bed wishing for death for a week. The second that I feel remotely better I’m right back at it with a to-do list the length of my arm and attempting to pull a 16 hour day. Needless to say, this never turns out well for me. I usually wind up sicker the next day and reverse all of the good that staying in bed for a week did. You would think that I would learn and stop doing this, but apparently the learning curve of this particular trait is very steep!

It is with this in mind, that my daily mantra has become, “Baby steps.” Last July I was diagnosed with costochondritis – a swelling of the cartilage around my sternum and lower left ribs. For any of you who have ever broken/bruised/dislocated ribs, the pain is very similar and so are the restrictions. For it to heal, you have to stop using your ribs. Funny right? How in the hell do you stop using your ribs? They tend to move every flippin’ time you breath! But never fear, the pain will teach you how to breathe without moving your sternum or lower ribs. Meet your new friend, shallow breaths. And any other sort of physical activity, forget it!

Now I’m not a gym rat. I generally have to remind myself to go, but the second that I was no longer allowed to go, I had a hankering for a Zumba class like nobody’s business! I was, however, good. I followed doctor’s orders and by the end of October I was mostly pain free . . . until I developed a cough at the beginning of November and undid three months-worth of healing. Throw on the car accident in December and I was a hurtin’ puppy come new years. That being said, I discovered a wonderful magic elixir – Nopal juice, get this stuff it’s amazing on inflammation – that has decreased my inflammation dramatically. Subsequently, my ribs haven’t given me more than a twinge for over a week. Whoo-hoo!

Let’s go rowing and take a Pilates class, and play putt-putt golf, and check out the batting cages, and take the puggles on a five mile walk to wear there little butts out and, and, and . . . sit back down and reevaluate my choices. BABY STEPS. How about a short walk with the puggles? Maybe some Tai-Chi. BABY STEPS. Maybe I’m about to go nutso out of my mind because I just want to go DO things! Be active! Work up a sweat! Or maybe some nice gentle stretching would be good. BABY STEPS. It’s my new mantra. I hate my new mantra. But I’m going to be good. Baby steps. Ugh!