“What If I Stumble, What If I Fall?”

What if I break my ankle and all my plans are now stalled?

Just two weeks ago, I wrote about the false notion that people can “have their fare share of trouble” and then their lives turn around. It’s also false to think that any of us deserve either the good or bad stuff that happens to us. Sometimes accidents just happen, people get sick through no fault of their own, and decisions are made by others that directly impact our lives.

On Thursday morning, I got up, threw on some clothes, and headed down the stairs to take Finn for his walk. But my mind was on the stressors of the day before, and the next thing I knew, I was in a crumpled ball at the bottom of the stairs, after I apparently missed the last one or two steps. I began to panic as my left ankle smarted pretty good. But I forced myself to get up and walk on it, as I had rolled my ankles plenty of times before, and I learned that if I begin walking on it right away, sometimes everything just goes back into place, and it’s not so bad.

However, yesterday was not one of those times. I did get up and hobbled through Finn’s walk at a turtle’s pace. When we got back from the walk, I propped myself up in bed with a bag of ice on my ankle. Oddly, there was very little swelling and no discoloration. These things confused and scared me. So I made a quick decision to go for an x-ray.

After several x-rays and a call back for another, the verdict was in: I had broken my ankle. Until the diagnosis was delivered, I had been praying feverishly to not need surgery. Thankfully, I was told that I did not need surgery, that I was very lucky, and that a highly fashionable boot should fix me up in a few weeks.

This was not the way I had envisioned my day going…but sometimes life just happens and we are rudely awakened from the other “problems” we were dwelling on.

I had just made weekend plans a few days ago. I had also made holiday weekend plans for next weekend. And I was planning to play a ton of pickleball when the temperatures turn cooler. But just like the saying goes, “Life is what happens while you’re busy making other plans.”

This monkey wrench is super tough for a planner like me. Yesterday was a good reminder that I really do have so little control over what happens in my life. But I get to choose my response to what happens.

While a broken ankle isn’t anything I would ever choose, perhaps it will give me the time I need to examine my heart, my thoughts, my attitude. Because despite my attempts to bring uplifting, neighborly words of encouragement most weeks on Substack, I absolutely stumble and fall from time to time…figuratively and yesterday, quite literally.

Until next week, neighbors. Take it easy with your steps. You don’t want to miss one, trust me.

—Angie

Title from Dc Talk