As It Turns Out, Happiness is in a Broken Foot...

...and a change of scenery

My last post on this blog was over a year ago, May 26^th of 2016 to be exact. Since then, I have often felt guilty about not keeping up with the goal I set for myself of writing to help educate others on living a healthier lifestyle. But I just couldn’t get inspired. I had ideas for what to write, but something prevented me from sitting down and putting them together into a coherent article. I even felt at times that I didn’t want to continue the blog at all. This was not like me, and I wondered where my spark for writing had gone.

As it turns out, it took me breaking my foot to get that spark back again.

You see, the past year and a half or so, I had been worn down and discouraged. I was tired from so many things—parenting, household chores, the ups and downs of my husband’s schedule, wondering if I’d ever reach my career goals, rude and unkind behavior of others, living in the congestion of Northern Virginia—and my brain just felt fried. I found myself sounding very negative about many things. I couldn’t find motivation for much of anything other than the usual everyday tasks. I was exercising regularly and feeling good physically, but emotionally I was on the verge of an epic meltdown.

Something just wasn’t right and I couldn’t figure out what it was. We had so many good times with friends and family, and I knew deep down I was blessed beyond belief with a wonderful life. But no matter how much I tried to look at the bright side of things, it seemed like there was a cloud of doubt hanging over my head that I couldn’t shake.

Everything started to change this past July. My husband learned that he would no longer be staying at his current job one more year like we originally thought. Instead, he’d have to leave at the end of September which gave us only two months to figure out where we were going to live in our new location. Initially, I was upset because this meant I'd have to give up teaching the programs I had designed and lined up for the Fall months. It takes time as a personal trainer to get a steady workflow, and I was finally getting there. But after careful consideration over what was best for the family, we decided we’d rather have the kids start the school year in New Jersey rather than move them mid-year. By the third week of July, we were committed to moving no later than early September.

On July 29^th, my husband and I looked at nine houses in New Jersey, made an offer on our favorite one, and by the end of the day we were under contract. Things couldn’t have been going better for our last-minute move, that is until August 1^st.

In a rush to get our Virginia house on the market, I slipped on the steps and broke my foot. What terrible timing! But the doctor told me this fracture, a hairline oblique fracture of my 5^th metatarsal, tends to heal well and sent me home with a walking boot. He told me it was okay to put weight on it as tolerated, so when the pain subsided after about a week, I was hobbling around on it in the house and carefully continued personal training a few times a week.

Our house went under contract four days after we listed it, and our plan was continuing to fall into place nicely. The next few weeks required a lot of work, and with me in the boot I couldn’t do as much as I normally would. But we made it work. My follow-up appointments didn’t show much change on the x-rays and my doctor said the fastest way to get back on it would be surgery. But with the move coming up and the potential complications of surgery, I opted to wait it out and see if it would start to heal on its own.

Closing day!

On September 5^th, we moved into a hotel in New Jersey to get the kids started in school, and on September 15^th, we closed on our new house! We were thrilled to finally have the back and forth with realtors over with. Not only that, but we were falling in love with the area more and more each day! It’s the perfect combination of country backroads and built-up shopping areas, everyone is super nice, and we find that the things to do around here are right down our alley. I was so excited to unpack the house, start painting the walls and really make it our own. I was sure my foot was getting better and it wouldn’t be long before I would be walking on it again.

6 weeks post break. No healing.

But at my follow up with my new doctor, I learned that it wasn’t healing at all. At 6 weeks post-break, there were no signs of healing and I would need surgery. I was devastated, mostly because I had already been on crutches for 7 weeks, and now it would be another 6-8 more weeks before I could even try to put weight on it! All I could think about was how much I wouldn’t be able to do and how much I’d be missing out with the family and exploring our new area.

Soon, though, I realized it was all going to be okay. I took some time to look at the big picture…how everything with this move fell into place so well, the kids met friends here right away and are very happy at their new school, we got the house we had been eyeing before we even knew we’d be moving this year, and we are finally out of the awful congestion of northern Virginia where there is absolutely no room to breathe. Here, I have all the breathing room I need.

On September 22^nd, I had surgery to put a plate and screws into my 5^th metatarsal bone. There is no looking back at the 7 weeks my foot was broken before the surgery. Now, I’m just looking ahead knowing that each day is one more day towards healing. And I am so happy! I am happy for a fresh start in a new area that seems to be so fitting for my personality. Everyone is so nice here…neighbors, strangers, store workers…and I feel like I belong.

Strangers have struck up conversations and shared stories with me like they’ve known me for years. Last week when I used one of those electric carts for the first time, the lady in front of me in line offered to put all my groceries on the belt for me. My neighbor who I’ve only met once offered to let me borrow his knee scooter from when he tore his Achille’s tendon. All the kids around here are extremely polite and have said “Thank you for having us over” each time they have come into the house. And everyone has offered their help if we need it or if we have questions about anything.

I don’t for a second believe that all of this has happened by accident. I’ve always believed everything happens for a reason, and God works in mysterious ways. I’m not sad anymore that I broke my foot because something great is going to come out of it. It already has taught me the importance of slowing down, as well as paying better attention to others who have a disability so I can help them when possible. I’m not regretful that I didn’t have the surgery back in August because now I have the ability to relax in my new home and not have the burden of moving still on my shoulders. The move is done, and it’s okay if the unpacking and painting and decorating take a little longer. I can’t wait until I can get outside and play with my kids, especially to jump on the new trampoline! But God’s plan has something for me and I’m happy to wait patiently and take care of myself so I can heal.

Family day out!

I never would have guessed that happiness would come from a broken foot. But sometimes we need to experience hard times in order to appreciate the good times. I can see clearly now that the good times are all around me. And I have found my spark to write again.

A special thanks to my mother-in-law who helped us move our belongings from VA to NJ and start unpacking at the new house, and to my parents who drove here for my surgery and helped unpack, clean, and wait on me the first few days after my surgery. We couldn't have done this with out your help!