A couple weeks ago I suffered the first, gnarliest, and hopefully last ankle sprain while playing basketball. I went up for a board, which is kind of laughable because I don’t really go for rebounds, not necessarily because I can’t but because I’m rather lazy, and ended up landing on my left foot, which wanted to say hello to the ground the weird way (completely sideways). A few cracks and some grunting later, I found myself on the side of the court, really disappointed that I couldn’t really feel much in my foot besides this throbbing pain as if my foot had suddenly decided to become a heart. I’ve seen my fair share of ankle sprains before but I’ve never really had one that had any lingering effects. I knew the moment I landed that this one was a dozy and would probably knock me out of commission for a while.

I thought I was mentally ready, but even that still didn’t prepare me for all the consequent inconveniences that plagued me for the past couple weeks. The immobility that came with not being able to apply much pressure on my foot made even the smallest activities infinitely difficult. Getting up to go brush my teeth in the morning wasn’t the usual 5.6 second walk to the bathroom but instead was a one-man cumbersome, awkward chicken fight. A lot of the plans I had in mind, even just my normal, everyday activities were substituted with their clumsier counterparts. I found myself growing more irritated that I wasn’t “myself,” but the very thing that knocked me out of my normal orbit brought to me closer to something else, something much more grand. I’ve been fortunate to be blessed with the life I’ve led so far to the point where I’ve been taking things for granted. Day in, day out, I am happy, as expected. Things usually go well because they are supposed to. It might seem insignificant but this little ankle sprain did more than just stretch my ligaments. It presented me a couple weeks of delightful discomfort, a new way of seeing and feeling things that I’ve never paid much attention to.

There’s a beauty in the mechanism of running, two legs and countless muscles, tendons and ligaments working in unison for one otherwise simple action. It’s a beauty that has gone undetected for the longest time. After a while, blessings become too common. If not for momentary plunges into jeopardy, we overlook the significance of the blessings in our everyday lives. I’m grateful that I see this now. I’m taking advantage of what I have and it’s going to make my life so much richer, I just know it. I just got back from playing basketball for the first time since the injury and the first gasps of fresh air filling my lungs, mixed with the nausea that comes with lack of physical exercise for lengthy periods of time, were marvelous.

We all have an absolute and infinite capacity for taking things for granted. I just hope others can understand how far a little gratitude for the finer things can go in enriching our lives.

I just wanted to get that Hallmark corn off my chest and am way too lazy to format and proofread so that’s that.