Happy Third Anniversary

Happy Third Anniversary to me and my left hip socket! Three years ago today was my Left PAO, the second of 11-so-far surgeries, but the first major one. (8/21/2018 was the first surgery, a hip scope to prep the hip for the PAO, extremely minor in comparison.) In any case – Happy Third Anniversary!

I normally don’t care to celebrate days like this, instead choosing to continue to look and move forward, but today I’m pausing to ponder and appreciate, trying something new. I have gratitude for this process every single day, but let’s reminisce and dig deeper today.

Today’s Daily Stoic reading perfectly embodies my foundational approach to this journey:

Yes! Bring joy and laughter and healing is so much easier. Flipping back through my phone to this day and other days right afterwards, I have these silly gems:

My family embraced this sentiment, too, always bringing fun to every day.

A New Path

Silliness aside, a huge part of this process has been to find a new personal path. I’m typically one to hurry things up, often causing self-sabotage. This process has taught me to toss that aside and let go of trying to control the outcome.

Even my Headspace meditation app was in on reminding me of the path:

Flipping My Thinking

A huge shift in my path comes in the form of flipping my internal script. As if on queue in preparation for today’s post, this quote landed in my inbox yesterday:

My advice (for what it’s worth) for success and happiness: Compete with yourself and root for everybody else.
– Candice Millard

Previously I rooted for myself and competed with everybody else. On practically EVERYTHING in life. I was never happy living this way, but the drive to compete was too strong to put down. These surgeries have given me a new perspective and the unique opportunity to finally grab some humility and free myself from that selfish prison of my own making.

Joy comes in the form of rooting for others!

Joy comes from competing only with myself!

As I’ve gone through each round of surgery/recovery, I’ve smiled more, knowing that I now have a superpower of my own – it doesn’t matter how I stack up against others in anything I do because I did THIS. This is all mine, this crazy sequence of surgeries and unexpected, rare setbacks. Coming back to do the things I love is an accomplishment in itself, my own competition with myself that is my own ultimate win.

Three years ago today I got up and moved like this, a few hours after surgery:

8/27/2018

Three years later, I work on my posing in heels, moving my hips like a BOSS. I don’t care if I ever win a competition, THIS is my win! The ability to move like this AND the internal joy that comes from competing against myself.

PRESS PLAY – WEIRDO ALERT!

8/27/2021

THAT feels AMAZING! My soul is finally smiling.

Lessons

Lessons are repeated until they are learned. A lesson will be presented to you in various forms until you have learned it. When you have learned it, you can go on to the next lesson.
Learning lessons does not end. There’s no part of life that doesn’t contain its lessons. If you’re alive, that means there are still lessons to be learned.
– Cherie Carter-Scott, If Life Is a Game, These Are the Rules

There are deeper lessons to be found in everything we do in life. Some people like me need WWF level smackdowns to finally learn, but so be it! I’m grateful to have finally learned, grateful for my body healing, and above all, grateful to be experiencing success and happiness in every part of my life.