admittedly, i’ve been neglecting this blog of mine. saw that my last entry was way back May 2013! :)) got so caught up with work and some mishaps and I totally forgot to update…
what a year 2013 has been! 2013 taught me a lot of lessons and opened my eyes to the most important things in life that we ought to pay attention to. let’s just say I learned all the lessons the hard way, but pretty glad i did learn! 😛 though playing soccer and rugby has to go to sidelines for a while since i’m still nursing my left knee to full recovery after that unlucky day in September, i still am happy on how my year went. started it with a side trip to Boracay then onto my 3rd year doing Liaison work for Philippine Rugby Football Union (PRFU) last May when I handled United Arab Emirates (UAE) NT. It has been 3 wonderful years of giving back and paying it forward to the sport I’ve grown to love.
September, known as the “Ghost Month” surely brought in some ghosts with it! Come middle of the month, our department (where I work) has to be shut down. I lost my work but managed to get into a new one. Same company but on a different department. I turned a year older and before the month ended, I got into an accident while on a training session for American Football. And to those asking and wondering why they haven’t seen me on the pitch playing or training, yes, I tore my ACL (Anterior Cruciate Ligament) on my left knee and sprained my MCL (Medial Cruciate Ligament) both sides. Although its only partial disruption of interstitial fibers, still it puts a whole new meaning of the word “nasty” in my life. First 2 weeks of injury was the longest and the worst 2 weeks of my entire being. the only good thing that came out of it was 1) I was able to spend more time with my family and friends and 2) I was reunited with the 3rd love of my life which is cooking. :))
I rarely speak about my injury coz I’d like to forget that memory and be done with it but I guess until I spoke about it, I’ll be forever haunted by that memory last September 29. I was supposed to skip the training since its been raining relentless but i already made a compromise and promised I’ll be there, so I went. The field in QC Circle wasn’t really made for playing, either you get injured or you get amoebiasis by the time you are finished training and have eaten all that foul-smelling mud in there. but being meself who doesn’t want to break any promises, I showed up in training. With the state of the field, its really really hard to run, so imagine my effort trying to evade mud puddles and run as fast as i could but alas, mud caught up with me, shuffled my feet and went down twisting my left knee. Ask all the athletes you know out there and they’ll say that when you hear that dreaded “pop” after the twist, you’re done. I heard the pop and I knew right then its gunna be bad. I couldn’t put weight on my left knee coz it’s giving out on me and immediately after I stood up, knee was in pain and swollen. What makes the ordeal worse was nobody in the team knows first aid, even the coach. And what makes it really really worst was that nobody helped me. Limping, I had to go and find ice myself so i can ice my swollen knee (yeah so much for a team) and had to call a friend to pick me up on the field and get me to the nearest hospital so I can have it checked. Asking where my teammates were? well, they were happily playing on the field with the coach. lol. God bless their souls..
Almost 3 months after, I can say that my knee feels a whole lot better. range of motion is now back to 100% but I still have to do strengthening. Still in rehab and it has been my daily routine to do all those stretching and strengthening exercises my PT gave me. Looking back, I still consider myself lucky. It could have been worst, it could have been a full tear that needs reconstruction, but it wasn’t. Now I can walk and soon I’ll be cleared to go back and play again. Lesson learned? Its easy for us to take everything for granted. Those little things like being able to see, smell, hear, feel, and being able to walk, run, dance like there’s no tomorrow, we tend to overlook and take those things for granted till the day it will be taken away from us. I almost lost my ability to walk but glad that I was able to get my second chance and promised meself to make the most out of it. 🙂
Staying at home & just doing rehab & gym also paved the way for me to be around the house with my mum & dad. I realized I have been out and about too much that I’ve never had enough time for my parents, talk to them, join them in dinner, or simply just be there with them and take care of them. Now I’ve got the chance to do just that and I’m totally happy about it! 🙂 now mum’s the one complaining I’m being so clingy and makulit! always calling & asking them where they are or kamusta sila! :)) This ordeal also brought me closer to my relatives, my cousins, and my friends.. I haven’t spent time with them since I was mostly busy and in training during weekends. Now its really nice that i get to talk to them again, watch movies and dine out with them. 2 words to describe my ordeal: Life Changing. turned my life upside down but its a good upside down! 😀 if you get what i mean.
these past years of my life has been on a hurry and i forgot to stop, enjoy life and be reminded of what really matters and I have to relearn it the hard way. wherever life may take us, we always have to go back to our core, those things that remains constant in our lives and that is family. Everyone will come and go in your life but your family will always be there, they’ve got your back no matter what. and i’m really glad mine’s still there despite the fact that I’ve been neglecting them for quite some time now. really happy that they’re all still there loving me unconditionally and will always be rooting for me all the way…
this christmas, remember to visit your family & friends whom you haven’t talk to in a while. take your mum & dad out, eat and catch up. check your siblings, do those things that you guys used to do. SMS your cousins and ask them for a day out with you. make the most out of it while they’re still with you. 🙂
yep, its a hard lesson learned, one thing I wouldn’t forget for eternity but really glad i got this 2nd chance to make it right coz after all not everyone is given that elusive second chance in life.
Live. Love. Laugh! and keep on moving your feet! 🙂 oh and Happy Christmas everyone! 😀
Life's a Trip! 