The Long Game

Hurting my back has brought back a lot of bad memories. Although I know that it's a "traumatic" injury instead of a "repetitive" one – like my neck/shoulders – and will heal much more quickly with far less effort, it still dredges up the frustration and stress of being injured. (Click here to read about what happened to my back.)

I'm not sure how everyone thinks of themselves, but before I got injured I didn't think too much about myself as a whole physical being. So much of our self-perception comes from our brains – we are thinking creatures. But the reality is that we are extremely physical as well. Perhaps we've strayed too far from our animal past, that we forget we are not just little thought bubbles bobbing around without bodies.

Anyone who has been really ill probably understands exactly what I'm talking about. Until you've experienced chronic pain or illness you don't realize how much you should appreciate good health. I'm very lucky, however. I found a physiotherapist (a physical therapist for American readers) who had a method that allowed me to get better. And although I'm biologically at a disadvantage, being hypermobile (scientific-speak for very flexible), my hypermobility is not pathological – meaning there are some people for whom it's actually like a disease. They are so flexible that they cannot build up enough strength to prevent injury.

Last night I felt really mopey. I was exhausted and needed to rest so took myself out of the game, like I sometimes need to do. Going home straight after work and doing my back exercises while watching TV, I felt sorry for myself that I couldn't be doing an aerobics class or be out with friends. I think I feel more down, and anxious generally, when I'm not able to do much exercise. But the truth is that I have to be fit for the long game. If I want to be able to do the activities I enjoy at some point, then I've got to put the work in now to fix my back. I was strong enough to do things I wanted to do before and I'll be strong enough again. But sometimes my brain forgets.

It would be nice to have a quick fix, but hey, it would be nice to have a quick fix for most annoying/difficult things in life. Sometimes what I do is just allow myself to wallow for a bit (what a good friend of mine calls "having a pity party") before realizing things will be OK and I'll get through it. (Also, last night, a few episodes of MasterChef really helped cheer me up -- click here to read my post on MasterChef and perfectionism).

I'm interested to hear if you have any solutions for getting yourself out of the quick-fix mindset. And do you have a good tool for dealing with feeling down and mopey about a problem with no easy solution?

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An Un-Masterly Chef

Last Wednesday night I received a call from the Future Hub, clearly on the train home from work perusing the Evening Standard television listings. "You do realize that the first episode of Celebrity MasterChef starts in 15 minutes, don't you?"

I nearly sprung off the floor from where I was doing my back exercises (I didn't though – I'm not supposed to spring while my back is still injured). I couldn't get to the DVR fast enough to make sure I didn't miss a nanosecond of what is currently one of my favorite programs. Celebrity MasterChef, Professional MasterChef, just-plain-old MasterChef. For those people living under a rock, and my US based readers (not sure if BBC America broadcasts such lovely programs), MasterChef is a cooking competition. It's been recently revamped to make it more exciting and it is on nearly every day in the evenings as they whittle through the weepy contestants who say over and over again that this competition could "change their life".

Perhaps that's why I like the celebrity version best. There's no pretence that these people are actually trying to open up their own country pubs for a better life for their families (do they even know anything about the restaurant industry?). In fact, I find the first rounds a bit depressing – it's really sad when these people find their dreams come crashing down when they get eliminated because of a televised cooking disaster.

But I have to confess, I just love reality TV. Not the Big Brother kind where people lie around and talk to each other about nothing much. I like the focused competitive programs, where you get to watch people trying to learn a skill or outsmart other contestants. I'm embarrassed to admit it, but I am also a fan of the UK version of the Apprentice with Sir Alan Sugar. It's so interesting to watch people try to perform a business task – so many psychological elements of the process: which products to sell, to whom, and how to work as team together. If it wasn't being televised, I'd definitely sign up.

But back to MasterChef. I really love cooking. It's the one thing I like to do but don't treat with the same level of perfectionism as so many other things in my life. I think it's because no matter how much I mess up a dish, I know I will have many other times to try it out a different way. You've got to eat three meals a day (at least), so there's lots of room for trial and error. I also love the repetitiveness of the tasks involved and how absorbed I get when I'm simply chopping up a cucumber. It's the definition of "flow" to me (see my posting on Monkeys And Meditation for more on flow).

So would I ever sign up to be a contestant on MasterChef? No way. Not even taking into consideration whether I'd be good enough anyway, I don't want to go there. Perhaps that's why I like watching the competition so much – it allows me to live vicariously through others without putting myself through the mental anguish of it all. A skill that you enjoy but don't aren't a perfectionist about? A real gem. Guard those things with all your might.

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