FROM BROKEN TO BETTER THAN EVER
I was leaving the hospital in a wheelchair with my left knee wrapped up like a mummy, and a feeling of discouragement yet again. This marked the third knee surgery in 3 years for me, the second one on my left.
I was in my freshman year in college running down the first base line, trying to leg out a chopper to the shortstop. As I was sprinting I lunged to beat the throw and hyperextended my leg as I stomped onto the base. That sent me flying into the dirt and letting out a loud yelp as I felt a pop in my knee. I’d like to believe that I was safe, but I honestly can’t remember.
It was a torn meniscus, and I knew there was a daunting road ahead of me called rehab, which for anyone can give you a little bit a fear. I hated the entire process. I knew what was coming—the hours in the physical therapy offices, the new found limitations that I had to endure, the check-ups with doctors, and the constant conversation with myself filled with doubt.
I was questioning whether or not I was ever going to be myself again. Was I even going to be back to full health? Was I going to be able to reach my potential? How was yet another setback going to hinder my ability to reach my dreams and goals of playing baseball at a high level?
And without the pain medication in my system at the time I probably would have been feeling a lot more anxiety than I was. Thanks doc!
BE BETTER THAN EVER
Whether it was this time or the multiple times before where I recklessly suffered an injury, the simple statement of “get better” was always sent my way. That sentiment was supposed to motivate me through the grind of a rehab protocol, the sweat, the pain with maybe the more than occasional cuss word slipping out.
One day I came limping into the rehab facility sitting down and mapping out the journey with Scott, my physical therapist. He sat down next to me, put his hand on my knee and walked me through the step by step process I already knew too well. I nodding along until he gave me a similar statement with a little different mindset and more powerful language that caused my doubt to dissipate.
Become even better.
I was questioning if I was going to ever get back to myself again, to full health, to my old ways. He was challenging me to adopt a new mindset, and wholeheartedly believed that I could go from broken to better than ever. He shaped it as an opportunity to grow stronger, not just heal.
BACK AND BETTER THAN EVER
In our lives you and I can sometimes feel like we need surgery. Not a knee scope, not an ACL, or any physical injury of the sorts. Sometimes it feels like we’ve suffered an emotional injury, a setback, a failure, or an expectation not met.
And I don’t know about you, but when that happens I again begin to doubt if I’ll ever be myself again. The truth is we won’t, but from that moment on we have a choice of who we’re focused on becoming. We can be become better than ever before, and that’s how I believe God uses our perceived setbacks.
God’s version of rehab is more than just rebuilding the broken part of you, it’s about building every part of you—to grow stronger, not just heal.
A failure isn’t a setback, it’s a step back to gain a new perspective. Your identity, your purpose, your character, your courage, your outlook and mindset on life.
God doesn’t want us to just “get better”. He wants us to become even better, better than we were before so that we can build a future better than we’ve ever imagined.
With His power and our faith we go from broken to better than ever.