It has been awhile since my last post, and the reason for my absence has very little to do with laziness or a busy holiday schedule. For exactly a month now I have been out of commission due to factors outside of my control. When I say “out of commission” I mean that my days have consisted of sleeping, reading and watching episodes of trashy TV shows. Not exactly the vacation I had planned for. Back in November I was dreaming of spending my time off playing pond hockey, cross-country skiing, skating and snowboarding in the winter paradise of the Gatineau Hills. Instead, a series of unfortunate events derailed these plans and have left me hiding under blankets trying not to feel too sorry for myself.
As a whole, 2011 has not been a lucky year for me. Before this disastrous Christmas vacation, I had already had the flu twice, developed a stomach ulcer, bruised my ribs, flipped over the handle bars of my mountain bike, developed piriformis syndrome from running, broken my nose playing soccer and gotten a concussion. It was a frustrating year filled with set backs and recovering. Then Christmas vacation came and things went from bad to worse.
The first day of vacation I got the flu yet again (which probably had a lot to do with working in an elementary school for a month and a half). This lasted a week and a half before I finally felt normal enough to get out of bed. The next day I was in the passenger’s seat when our car got rear ended, which resulted in my head smacking back against the headrest and yet another concussion. For a few days I was once again confined to bed with the lights out and a splitting headache. I had been feeling better for about two days when, on December 30th, I went to watch the Redmen hockey team take on Waterloo in a holiday exhibition game. Apparently 2011 was not done being hard on me because a puck came over the boards and smacked me in the head. Concussion #3 of the year was confirmed, and I have been in bed ever since.
All of this has gotten me thinking about luck, both in sports and in life. It seems that no matter what we do, how much we practice or how talented we are, it all amounts to nothing without a bit of luck on our side. Life really is a game of inches. If I had been sitting an inch to the left, I would not have gotten a puck in the head. If my mom and I hadn’t taken an extra minute to choose what kind of coffee to order, we would have been clear of the accident.
The theme of luck came to mind again as I was watching Canada play Russia in the World Junior Hockey Championship semi-final last night. Canada was down 6-5 with seconds remaining on the clock. They had a very good chance to score, but instead hit the goal post. The announcer summed up my thoughts quite nicely when he said: “Sometimes you get a miracle, and sometimes you hit the post.”
In 2011, I managed to hit a lot of goal posts. I’m hoping that 2012 will be a bit kinder and that my head will stop throbbing before classes start.
Hope everyone had a great break and best wishes (and luck) for 2012!
- Martlet Girl
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