I had an accident yesterday pulling ivy off my garden wall.

I had an accident yesterday pulling ivy off my garden wall.

Incident maybe, not accident.

Leaning over, pulling on a clump of twisted vines, when wham!

Shooting across my lower back let. On top of an 8’ high wall. I winced and took a breath.

Would I be able to move without further pain? 😫

My brain told me:
- Get down off the wall.
- Go indoors.
- Apply Ice.

My back was on fire.

But I moved and did it. The ice helped. And everything was fine
— until I took a hot shower later. 🚿

Drying afterwards. My back twinged again. This time worse. 😩

So, more ice + painkillers. 💊

And, what's this got to do with high performance?

Reflection. Reflection is power. What I've learnt so far:

- A commitment is a commitment - publish. I'm still writing and sharing.
- Don't take physical health and abilities for granted. Change can happen, fast.
- Get to the root cause, not temporary fixes. Painkillers provide relief, not a solution.

The point is that with reflection you can turn any painful exoeriece into gain. Extract insight from adversity. Turn failure into feedback. 🤔

Movement helps back pain, cadence between rest and gentle exercise is my next move.

I’m feeling a little uneasy. Anxious. With a long car journey coming up.

After that, I’ll regroup and decide what to do about the root cause.

PS This post is not about back pain.