Lucky, lucky, lucky!

A lot of times in my life I think about how much I value my health and my body and that it functions properly. Too often I think about if only I had legs like ____ or a stomach like ____ and I don't think about just how great it is that I have a body that works and does almost everything I ask of it. (Besides a little camo, which is annoying but it's what it is and it doesn't hurt. A girl just a little older than me came on the river with me last summer who had recently been diagnosed with retinal myopathy (or something like that) and she will be blind in about 3 or 4 years, and that made me realize that my camo is nothing.) I realize that with how much I like to play, I do all that I can to be safe and take care of myself, but even when you are being careful and you know what you're doing, stuff can still go wrong. I've had some adventures that have usually turned alright in the end. But one adventure that I was really lucky wasn't worse was when I broke my back.
My family was on a trip up in Oregon and we'd all been going off this big rope swing into a lake all day and of course, trying to keep up with my brothers, I tried doing a back flip and ended up slapping pretty hard, so the next time around I just dove in, but to prevent another slap, I held on a little longer than necessary and ended up diving into like 5 feet of water. Long story short I'm super lucky. Had I gone in at an angle or had my head bent any more I could be a quadriplegic or dead. I got a compression fracture on T-3 and cracked one of the pedicles, and had to wear this brace for 6 weeks (it was supposed to be 3 months but I got out a little early).

I'd been thinking about this because my dad's friend who is a quadriplegic from a trampoline accident when he was 32 was over at our house the other day. I've never really heard him talk about it and it's so crazy. He'd been a diver and was totally comfortable in the air, but was trying to get as high as he could and just got a little off balance and landed on his neck on the edge of the tramp. He can move his hand enough to move his wheelchair, but his wife and a nurse dress him and feed him everyday. It was a big wake up call to me to me as cautious as I can, but at the same time that I need to make the most out of every day. I had one (probably more than that, but that was the major one) close call and I'm so lucky! So, the point is go play and love your body! and take advantage of this amazing piece of engineering that you have that can ski or climb or run or flip or whatever you want it to do!