End November 2017 Haiku

“My Leg Hurts Because My Foot Exploded”

Ms. Turner sitting

Calf and thigh high! And foot, sigh,

My foot broke itself.

I didn’t fall off the bleachers. I didn’t twist an ankle or slip on a patch of water. My foot simply… bruised from the inside and swelled up. They sent me home from the ER using a walker. The foot’s fine now. I had healed by late the following week, at least well enough to walk without assistive devices. But I still don’t know what happened except I was on that foot, climbing bleachers, while going back and forth and moving nonstop all day in a gym. Still, all teachers have nonstop days — now more than ever.

Eduhonesty: I used social media today to advise a teacher to try meditation, tapping or medication — whatever it would take to get her through the teaching day without ending up hurting. I read too many posts lately from teachers with headaches, teachers who are nonstop anxious, who are sick or recovering from being sick.

Does this describe you? Or someone else you know? Physical symptoms of stress should not be ignored in an effort to complete Lesson Plan #284 for the year. You only get one body and one life, one shot, as Eminem sang.

I don’t plan to go into detail about my haiku. I just want to flag that physical discomfort I kept walking on. It’s too easy to take a purple Nexium and ignore a stomach, or to down another Excedrin for the latest headache. It’s too easy to work through pain, ignoring the message underneath.

My foot gave me warnings that day. But I just kept going until I couldn’t keep going and then I borrowed crutches from a school nurse to half-hop to my car and somehow drive to the ER. One shiny, new metal walker later, I made my way home, where I then spent the week watching TV with my foot elevated, startled to discover I hadn’t gotten away with my determined effort to work through the pain.

As Madonna sang, “pain is a warning that something’s wrong.” What we may forget, especially when day-to-day pressure is too great — I have to get that spreadsheet ready before tomorrow’s meeting! — is that sometimes tornado warnings are followed by tornados. That pain? Something’s wrong.

I am writing this post to plead with educators to take care of themselves:

• Before that slow, labored hop to the car.
• Before kind ER nurses and doctors start attaching devices to fingers, chests, arms and ankles.
• Before helpful techs start wheeling your supine body to various imaging machines.
• Before maybe you do yourself damage you can’t easily or ever fix.

Remedies for physical and mental stress are superabundant today: meditation, breathing exercises, yoga, massages, exercise classes, tapping, hypnosis, music, recreational reading, walking, art, funny videos, essential oils, gardening…etc. I recommend locating and printing a list of remedies. Highlight your favorites and make a schedule. Pay for that yoga class if paying will get you to park and walk through the studio door. And if you are hurting, please see a doctor. When all else fails, medication may be required.

One last observation: If your workday REGULARLY causes you physical pain, that’s your body trying furiously to reach you. Whether you need another district, another administration, or another profession altogether, your instincts are already kicking in to push you off your chosen path. Don’t let your brain lead when your gut, head, or right foot are trying to break into your internal conversation.

Listen to your body.