My five roommates and I host an open dinner at our house every Tuesday. In the past two years of doing this, I don’t think there’s been a single week where everyone knew everyone. So each week before we dig in to the chow, everyone introduces him or herself and answers an ice breaker question.
Sometimes the questions are weird, for example: If you were a vegetable what would you be? Sometimes the questions are related to a nearby holiday: What is your proudest Halloween costume? or an upcoming birthday: What is something you appreciate about [insert birthday boy/girl’s name]? Sometimes, when we can’t think of a unique question, the ice breaker is more standard, like What is your biggest fear?
Sometimes the questions are weird, for example: If you were a vegetable what would you be? Sometimes the questions are related to a nearby holiday: What is your proudest Halloween costume? or an upcoming birthday: What is something you appreciate about [insert birthday boy/girl’s name]? Sometimes, when we can’t think of a unique question, the ice breaker is more standard, like What is your biggest fear?
A quick google search of biggest fears reveals a list of the top 10 most common phobias among Americans:
When the question of greatest fear came up at house dinner, we turned out to be, for the most part, a pretty good representation of the general population. However, though many of these fears did resonate with me, none of them were quite as frightening to me as my Greatest Fear: tearing an ACL.
When you play cutting, pivoting, contact sports for long enough, you inevitably see and hear enough ACL injuries to develop respect for that little ligament that holds your knee together. People in the sports community might not know what the acronym stands for or what its function is in the knee, but they pretty much all know that a snapped ACL is guaranteed to be a season ender. Throughout the years I've had plenty of teammates who have torn an ACL. A handful of them returned to soccer stronger, faster, and more coordinated than before their injury. However, more often than not they struggled through rehab and never made it back to pre-injury levels.
Because of the notoriously long, grueling rehab associated with recovery (6-12+ months post-surgery) and the long-term effects of the injury, tearing an ACL has been one of those slightly realistic fears that has hung over my head for the past few years. Almost 75% of ACL tears are non-contact pivoting, cutting, or landing injuries. Available literature (read: both legit-and non-legit google results) pretty much unanimously agrees that the rate of non-contact knee injuries can be reduced by focusing on things like hip and hamstring strength, single-leg balance and control, and landing mechanics. With that in mind, for the past year or so, I've been fairly intentional about incorporating various exercises into my weekly routine in order to prevent preventable injuries.
- Flying
- Public speaking
- Heights
- Darkness
- Intimacy
- Death
- Failure
- Rejection
- Spiders
- Commitment
When the question of greatest fear came up at house dinner, we turned out to be, for the most part, a pretty good representation of the general population. However, though many of these fears did resonate with me, none of them were quite as frightening to me as my Greatest Fear: tearing an ACL.
When you play cutting, pivoting, contact sports for long enough, you inevitably see and hear enough ACL injuries to develop respect for that little ligament that holds your knee together. People in the sports community might not know what the acronym stands for or what its function is in the knee, but they pretty much all know that a snapped ACL is guaranteed to be a season ender. Throughout the years I've had plenty of teammates who have torn an ACL. A handful of them returned to soccer stronger, faster, and more coordinated than before their injury. However, more often than not they struggled through rehab and never made it back to pre-injury levels.
Because of the notoriously long, grueling rehab associated with recovery (6-12+ months post-surgery) and the long-term effects of the injury, tearing an ACL has been one of those slightly realistic fears that has hung over my head for the past few years. Almost 75% of ACL tears are non-contact pivoting, cutting, or landing injuries. Available literature (read: both legit-and non-legit google results) pretty much unanimously agrees that the rate of non-contact knee injuries can be reduced by focusing on things like hip and hamstring strength, single-leg balance and control, and landing mechanics. With that in mind, for the past year or so, I've been fairly intentional about incorporating various exercises into my weekly routine in order to prevent preventable injuries.
However, the reality is that contact still happens, and all the focused strengthening and training in the world isn't going to defend against a large enough force.
UnfortunateIy, I found this out the hard way.
I will probably post a more detailed description of what happened, but to make a long story very short: I was fully planted on my leg, loading to jump, when a direct blow to the outside of my knee caused it to buckle sideways and tear my ACL and both menisci. (Edit: Read the full collision story here.)
Now I get to face my Fear.
UnfortunateIy, I found this out the hard way.
I will probably post a more detailed description of what happened, but to make a long story very short: I was fully planted on my leg, loading to jump, when a direct blow to the outside of my knee caused it to buckle sideways and tear my ACL and both menisci. (Edit: Read the full collision story here.)
Now I get to face my Fear.
Kudos to you if you read this far! Thanks for sticking it out. I know I'm leaving this story as somewhat of a cliff-hanger, but there is more to come, I promise.
I tend to process things best through writing. It helps me collect my thoughts and allows me to reflect back and see progress/trends through time. Since I usually keep my writing private, I'm a little hesitant to share this story. But I'm hoping that sharing this blog with friends and family will allow you to see different layers of who I am that I may not be so good at showing on a normal day.
I will be adding thoughts and updates here and there, so check back if you're interested. (Edit: Here is a timeline of events and progress from injury to surgery.) I am going to try to be vulnerable and honest (things that I'm often not very good at) about how this injury has affected me mentally, emotionally, spiritually, physically, and logistically. Some of the posts might be pretty raw, but in general I will try to be entertaining and humorous!
I tend to process things best through writing. It helps me collect my thoughts and allows me to reflect back and see progress/trends through time. Since I usually keep my writing private, I'm a little hesitant to share this story. But I'm hoping that sharing this blog with friends and family will allow you to see different layers of who I am that I may not be so good at showing on a normal day.
I will be adding thoughts and updates here and there, so check back if you're interested. (Edit: Here is a timeline of events and progress from injury to surgery.) I am going to try to be vulnerable and honest (things that I'm often not very good at) about how this injury has affected me mentally, emotionally, spiritually, physically, and logistically. Some of the posts might be pretty raw, but in general I will try to be entertaining and humorous!