Hindsight gets Lasik

Hindsight is supposed to be 20/20 right? So what if you are a stuborn jackass like me? Can you get Lasik surgery so that your hindsight is truly 20/20? I found myself thinking about his as I sat in the ER (once again) for my shattered heel. One of the nurses made the comment " I bet you don't do that again!". Well, as a matter of fact, the chances are great that I WILL do it again. Maybe I won't get hurt next time, or maybe I will, but I will surely be in another situation like the one that caused this injury. No matter how eloquently I tried to explain to her that I wasn't going to quit climbing because of this, she just insisted that I should see the "fruits of my labor now". Fruits of my labor !!!! What could she possibly mean? The fruits of my labor are the memories that I have from all the climbing. The good times I have shared with friends and the laughs we have shared. The fact that climbing has kept me in shape (both physically and mentally) would more likely be the fruits of my labor. A broken bone though?! That isn't fruit from any type of labor. That is a part of the game we play. It is the risk I take everytime I tie in to a rope or go out bouldering. I know this, my wife knows this, and my other climbing partners know this. That doesn't mean that we stop doing what we love. As any climber will tell you, you are more likely to be hurt walking down the street than you are climbing. Maybe with some hindsight lasik I can better predict the future. My vision will be perfect for seeing those winning lottery numbers before they are drawn. Maybe I could avoid all the pain and suffering that life had to offer. Nah- that would be too easy.

The inherent risks involved with climbing (or any other outdoor pursuit) are a fact that we cannot change. That is why they are "inherent". People have differing levels of acceptable risk. What I am willing to do - others may not be. The quntfiable risks that I take are something that I determine on my time. I don't push people into climbing. Even those new to climbing (hopfully) understand that there are risks that we cannot TOTALLY eliminate. So if you live your life scared and in a safety bubble, don't come climbing. You do your best to manage risks in everyday life. You don't get into your car and ignore the rules. If you did, you would surely end up dead. Fortunately there aren't steadfast rules in climbing. That is one of the reasons that most of us are drawn to it. We make our own rules (for the most part). You know the risks, you asses them, you do your best to minimize them, and you learn to process them in your mind and know when you are at your limit. That is, in a nutshell, what keeps me coming back.

I may spend a year or more recovering from this injury. The break (according to yesterdays ER visit) is "heinous". Those were the exact words of the ER doc when he reviewed my CT scans and x-rays. I loved the guy. No BS. He pulled no punches and he gave me the ABSOLUTE worst case scenario. He told me that he wanted to lay it all out there for me so that there were no surprises. He said that he wouldn't sugar coat anything, and he didn't. He told me that I could walk with a limp for the rest of my life, I could be facing multiple surgeries, and I could walk with a "VERY STRANGE" gait due to the damage. Basically I could be one of those guys that drags his foot behind him, with the toes never quite leaving the ground. Did he get my attention? Yup. Did the nurse have a point in assuming that I would "learn" from this and not do it again? She thinks so. Will I crawl in some hole and curl up in the fetal position-sucking my thumb and crying myself to sleep? NOPE.

There are people out there who have to overcome far worse injuries than I have. Mine could have been way worse, but I don't regret that day of climbing. It was a beautiful day in the mountains, overcast, with a slight cool breeze. My family was there, as well as Cody and Marcus. A group of people whom I love to share my time with were all there. It was the first climb of the day and as I went up I heard the sound of my daughter laughing and enjoying being outside. My son was picking out "his" climb. My wife was lacing up her shoes. Cody and Marcus were chatting and laughing. It was a great day to be alive and living in the mountains. While I was doing this, there were wars being waged, people fighting cancer, and somewhere out there someone was taking their last breath. I try and keep the attitude that "things could have been worse", and they certainly could have been. I look back now, a few days later, and I wouldn't have changed a thing. My problems are miniscule compared to most peoples. Some people live a jaded life, but I choose to live life on my terms. I will take the good with the bad. I appreciate the time that I have here and I won't "slow down" anytime soon. I feel sorry for those who stroll through this life afraid to take risks. I pitty those people. We all began to die the day we were born. To live life "afraid" is a complete mystery to me. We are all destined to die...so get out there and live. I don't regret what happened, or even feel sorry for myself....I consider myself one of the luckiest people alive...and that has nothing to do with this accident.