Last night after brushing our very furry Keeshond dogs, I picked up the grooming table to put it away and dropped it on the ball-joint of my foot. To say it hurt is an understatement. It hurt so much, in fact, that I thought I had broken it.

After hearing the crash and racing up the stairs, my fabulous husband found me writhing on the floor with my foot already turning dark shades.

Remembering the RICE rule (Rest, Ice, Compression, Elevation), David immediately got me up on the sofa to ice and elevate my foot. Once the initial wave of pain eased, I hobbled into the bedroom where I remained for the rest of the night.

For about the first 20 minutes, I lay there trying to think about how I could alter my exercise routine to work around my injury. As I pushed myself up to a sitting position to take some Advil, I realized I’d also hurt my hand.

As if reading my mind, David said, “I think it’s safe to say this is going to impact your workout routine.”

In the past, this is where I would have started freaking out. Visions of backsliding and weight gain would have filled my mind. I would have been totally focused on the worst-case scenario.

Ahh, I love how much I have changed.

Instead, I made peace with it, started looking for the opportunities, and invited in wellness.

My thoughts went something like this:

This is temporary. I will heal and recover and I will be working out to full capacity again in no time. And there will be a lot of opportunities to get creative with how I move my body. Just because I’m injured doesn’t mean I can’t do anything. And just think about how much I will appreciate my feet during this time.

And I know the amazing power of All-That-Is (God, the Universe, Source Energy, Higher Coach—whatever works for you.) The moment that I hurt my foot I was asking vibrationally for healing and a return to wellness, and I know that when we ask, it is given.

My wellness will return as rapidly as I am open to receiving it.

I then took 30 minutes to meditate and used any time I was awake during the night to relax into my wellness.

After awaking at my normal time, I asked my body if it would prefer me to get up and try to do some kind of workout, or if I should sleep. An immediate jab of pain in my foot seemed to answer that rest is what I needed, so I turned over.

When I did get up, I was amazed to find that the bruising and swelling was almost completely gone and while still tender and sore, I can walk fairly easily. While flip-flops will be my footwear of choice for a few days and I will want to continue to rest, ice, and elevate, my hand and foot are going to be back to normal in no time.

Even better is that I feel great this morning and am ready to embrace my day. With different thoughts, I would have woken exhausted and pessimistic.

How we respond truly makes a huge difference in how we experience life. What can you do to change your thoughts about a “negative” situation? How does that change your experience of it? What might be the value in continually reaching for a more “positive” perspective?

Together we can do it!

Photo of our dogs Buffy (left) and Willow by Hansje Gold-Krueck