It's nice to have a brother who's a very good Sports Medicine doctor, but it's not nice when he is in the process of checking you over and he gets "the look". With most docs, you wouldn't know "the look" because you barely know him or her; but when your brother who you've spent your whole life with is the Dr and you see "the look", it's hard for him to cover it up. I got "the look" last week.
I had been having some knee pain in the front of my knee for a few months, and throughout December I started figuring out that I probably should take it easy with my exercising because of it. In talking through it with Spencer, he gave me a phone diagnosis of Patellar Tendinitis, and we resolved to have him take a closer look at it over Christmas when we were in town. That happened last week. He put the ultrasound on my knee, and within about one minute of his careful moving around and looking at images of the inside of my left knee, he got "the look". It was much worse than he had thought, and it has developed into Patellar Tendinosis, not to be confused with Patellar Tendinitis. Basically, due to the tendon trying unsuccessfully to heal itself over time from damage, it decided it would be best to form the scar tissue into bone, so I now have a good sized chunk of bone growing in my patellar tendon. That's not good. It's especially not good if you've already signed up for a big race that cost lots of non-refundable money, and you were supposed to start training this week.
We decided to take an aggressive approach to trying to heal it, so on Friday of last week he gave me a bunch of numbing shots, and then used a honkin' big (that's a technical term, I believe) needle and tried to go in, break up the bone, and suck it out through the needle. Alas, the bone was too hard, so the best he could do was try to promote healing and strength in the surrounding tendon by roughing that up. Mmm, that was lovely.
So here I am a week later. The knee has felt pretty decent after the initial two days of pain, and I'm just getting started in on the strengthening exercises. What really gets me is the uncertainty. I don't know what it means to have a piece of bone in my patellar tendon; I don't know if I have to get it taken out in order to do things without pain, I don't know if it is more likely to rupture if it's got a hunk of bone in it, and most importantly, I have no idea whether I'll be able to recover in time to do my race in June. Pretty crappy...
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Pres. Thomas S. Monson, Oct 2008
"This is our one and only chance at mortal life—here and now. The longer we live, the greater is our realization that it is brief. Opportunities come, and then they are gone. I believe that among the greatest lessons we are to learn in this short sojourn upon the earth are lessons that help us distinguish between what is important and what is not. I plead with you not to let those most important things pass you by as you plan for that illusive and non-existent future when you will have time to do all that you want to do. Instead, find joy in the journey—now.
... Professor Harold Hill, one of the principal characters in [The Music Man], voices a caution that I share with you. Says he, “You pile up enough tomorrows, and you’ll find you’ve collected a lot of empty yesterdays.”
f you have children who are grown and gone, in all likelihood you have occasionally felt pangs of loss and the recognition that you didn’t appreciate that time of life as much as you should have. Of course, there is no going back, but only forward. Rather than dwelling on the past, we should make the most of today, of the here and now, doing all we can to provide pleasant memories for the future.
Stresses in our lives come regardless of our circumstances. We must deal with them the best we can. But we should not let them get in the way of what is most important—and what is most important almost always involves the people around us. Often we assume that they must know how much we love them. But we should never assume; we should let them know. Wrote William Shakespeare, “They do not love that do not show their love.”3 We will never regret the kind words spoken or the affection shown. Rather, our regrets will come if such things are omitted from our relationships with those who mean the most to us.
Send that note to the friend you’ve been neglecting; give your child a hug; give your parents a hug; say “I love you” more; always express your thanks. Never let a problem to be solved become more important than a person to be loved. Friends move away, children grow up, loved ones pass on. It’s so easy to take others for granted, until that day when they’re gone from our lives and we are left with feelings of “what if” and “if only.” Said author Harriet Beecher Stowe, “The bitterest tears shed over graves are for words left unsaid and deeds left undone.”
In the 1960s, during the Vietnam War, Church member Jay Hess, an airman, was shot down over North Vietnam. For two years his family had no idea whether he was dead or alive. His captors in Hanoi eventually allowed him to write home but limited his message to less than 25 words. What would you and I say to our families if we were in the same situation—not having seen them for over two years and not knowing if we would ever see them again? Wanting to provide something his family could recognize as having come from him and also wanting to give them valuable counsel, Brother Hess wrote—and I quote: “These things are important: temple marriage, mission, college. Press on, set goals, write history, take pictures twice a year.”
Said one well-known author: “Both abundance and lack [of abundance] exist simultaneously in our lives, as parallel realities. It is always our conscious choice which secret garden we will tend . . . when we choose not to focus on what is missing from our lives but are grateful for the abundance that’s present—love, health, family, friends, work, the joys of nature, and personal pursuits that bring us [happiness]—the wasteland of illusion falls away and we experience heaven on earth.”
Said the Lord in a revelation given through the Prophet Joseph Smith, “In nothing doth man offend God, or against none is his wrath kindled, save those who confess not his hand in all things.”10 May we be found among those who give our thanks to our Heavenly Father. If ingratitude be numbered among the serious sins, then gratitude takes its place among the noblest of virtues.
Brothers and sisters, my sincere prayer is that we may adapt to the changes in our lives, that we may realize what is most important, that we may express our gratitude always and thus find joy in the journey."
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