Alignment

After the birth of my last son in 9/09, I started running again very quickly...as in a week later.  Hey, when you're delivering your third it's true that you are pretty much back to normal with lightening speed.  My eagerness to pound the pavement created some alignment issues in my right hip as a result.  What started as a slight ache has progressed to sharp pain and difficulty lying on it at night.  So here I am, 15 months later and finally going to the doctor about my hip which is slowly but surely getting worse.  Thankfully, it will just need a little alignment work and I can continue to run through the treatments.  I've been advised not to train for anything, but to just keep mileage the same - which is fine with me!   

What amazed me was that the second I walked across the room, the doctor knew what was wrong by the way my right leg rotated outward ever so slightly (I never even noticed I was doing that!).  Also amazing is that just a slight imbalance in muscle strength or flexibility can over time create some pretty substantial injuries.

Looking back over my posts since starting this blog in the summer, I can see that there were and still are a lot of alignment issues that I struggle with in many different areas.  It's neat to be able to look back and see what has changed since I posted about a particular subject.  Many areas have changed and improved, but some areas are still a struggle. 

As a working mom of 3, organizational strategies to balance family and work will always be a challenge.  Things with this have definitely gotten better but I am continually looking for better and more efficient ways to run our house.  Thankfully, I have some very dear sweet friends who are great at listening and recommending strategies to manage the daily juggle.  I'm SO thankful for them!

BSF has been wonderful for rekindling my love of Biblical study.  I really enjoy the challenging guided questions, the wonderful lectures, and the awesome group of women with whom I study.  I struggle with the time (Monday evenings) b/c it's hard to leave my husband alone to feed and bathe the kids.  He handles it like a pro, but I still feel a little guilty. 

Living away from family is still gets me down.  The alignment that needs adjusting is really internal for me - I need to handle this better and also to humble myself.  But in the grand scheme of things, it doesn't matter and that my heart & mind needs to be free of pride and of thoughts of what is "fair" and what my kids "deserve".

Here at work, I struggle with aligning my teaching/scholarship/service activities to make me a more productive faculty member.  I just attended a seminar that discussed this issue.  Scholarly activities are my waterloo and tend to get put on the backburner not only b/c I find that work more difficult, but also b/c I don't enjoy it as much as the other two branches. 

As far as the hip goes, I have my first alignment session on Friday - and have been given homework (stretching and strengthening exercises) to do daily in the meantime.  I've set some alignment goals for myself as far as balancing work/family over the next couple of months and am praying and working hard on my attitude toward family and living away from family.  At work, I have some strategies in mind for helping align my three primary areas for better productivity.  I hope to improve alignment in all areas over the next year: spirituality, family, work, and body, but it will always be a work in progress. :)