Becoming Fit for Life #042: Play, Injury, Risk, and Failure
🦴 How to move without fear of injury, the magical window for parents, the importance of play and failure
This week in building health 👇
Finding the Balance Between Play and Risk
When I was an athlete, I was actually know as “The Injured One”
Not hard to guess why.
In my 5 years of college, I had 3 major injuries.
So much to the point that when I injured myself AGAIN at 23 years old– I decided I was done with sports, I didn’t want to get injured again.
Only simple and safe movements for me.
That’s why my 20s turned out to be my most sedentary decade ever.
Why?
Because it turns out, if I eliminate any risk of injury from my movement– there isn’t much left to do.
On top of that, I was feeling pretty uninspired and unchallenged by my movements.
So I just stopped.
It was only as I was entering into my 30s that I decided to get back into it.
(You’ll see in the article when I started ‘injuring’ myself again 😆)
Today, I try to find the balance between Playing & Staying Active and Injury & Risk
→ Read my Essay on that Here (12 minutes)
My favorite health things for the week
// one
Prescribing Play
12 minutes | Anthony Vennare
It’s funny to me that doctors need fancy language to describe something so simple
Here’s an excerpt from the Journal of Pediatrics:
“Our thesis is that a primary cause of the rise in mental disorders is a decline over decades in opportunities for children and teens to play, roam, and engage in other activities independent of direct oversight and control by adults.”
In short, we play less, and that’s why kids are seeing record numbers of mental disorders.
// two
One day, you’re no longer their favorite person
6 minutes | Kye Hy
This isn’t about the body per se- but it is about health.
Since I’m going to be a parent soon, I’ve been thinking a bit about what kind of activities I would like to be able to do with my children.
In this essay, Kye Hy writes:
“There’s a magical window – 8 to 12 years – during which you and your wife are their absolute favorite people in the world. They wait by the door for you to come home like a puppy. There’s no one on earth they’d rather be with. And then it’s gone. Now it doesn’t mean that they don’t love you as much. They still need you just as much. But the magical window is gone.”
Will I be able to be physically fit and active enough to enjoy that magic window?
That’s what I want to stay fit for.
// three
Turning Fear of Failure into Increments of Curiosity
7 minutes | Anne-Laure Le Cunff
In line with the theme of playing and taking risks, a useful skill to develop is how to fail well, and turn those into learning opportunities.
I admit, I really struggle with fear of failure.
This excerpt describes me perfectly
In a study looking at the relationship between young athletes and their parents, researchers found a correlation between the parents’ high expectations for achievement and the children’s fear of failure. The more the parents showed a negative reaction to what they perceived as a failure from their kid, the more the kid would fear the consequences of “failing.”
But moving well (and living life) can’t come without struggle.
It takes practice to work through it.
Until next time
It’s back to the basics for me.
We’re preparing for our newborn, who’s due to arrive anytime now. So in the meantime I’m completely expecting to get very little done in the next 2 months or so.
It’s made me dial back and ask what is that I really want to work on?
What is essential and what is fluff for me?
I like writing these, so it’s definitely going to continue. But in case there’s anything else you want to see just let me know.
Thanks and Have a healthy weekend,
— Javier Gomez