Face Your Fears

Outside my hotel room window
Montreal, May 7, 2015 

When I tell the story about my encounter with a scorpion on my last trip to Mexico, I say "I'm over fifty, I'm always in pain." 

I use this detail to illustrate my uncertainty when I felt a stabbing/numbing pain run down my back just as I was putting on my yoga top.

Further into the story I usually get a big laugh when I pantomime my shock and surprise when I find the scorpion... in my yoga top.

I get a mix of reactions toward the end of the story when I reenact the moment when I asked myself, "I've just been stung by a scorpion; there are no resort staff on the premises at this time of the morning; I'm in the middle of nowhere and at least forty minutes from any kind of medical attention... am I going to die?"

People are not always comfortable facing questions of mortality in the midst of an amusing travel anecdote.

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Because I'm not sure of the audience's tolerance for scary details in this blog, I've been holding out on you. 

Since returning from our trip to San Francisco I've had a lot of pain in my right hip, even for someone over fifty. One Monday about three weeks ago, I was so afflicted I wasn't sure I could make the 20 minute walk to work. 

I didn't want to bring something as scary as chronic pain into the full light of day. Also, I didn't know which fear I was dealing with. My executive assistant assured me that his brother-in-law's tragic and sudden death from cancer at the age of 38 started with exactly the same symptoms as mine.

The appointment I mentioned in my last blog post was with my physician. I've been x-rayed and diagnosed. 

After a decade of a dedicated yoga practice that I was sure would fend off the worst effects of growing old, I have arthritis, and yoga really sets it off. 

I'm afraid of spiders, too.

Thanks for reading!

Have a great week!

Karen