winning?

Victories are contextual. Three days ago I sprained my ankle badly. The only other time I injured my ankle that bad was when I fractured it. It's been very swollen and bruised, and I couldn't walk properly. Also, it affected my mental health in some strange way, so I was struggling with that as well. I think the interaction between physical and mental health is something that isn't very well understood - the way that the two can kind of lock hands to restrain you. 

I decided that today I would walk to the shop for the first time since I hurt my ankle. I didn't feel ready, but I thought I would do it anyway. So, I was walking super slowly and carefully, and I thought it was going to take all morning to walk to the shop and back. But I found that as I went, and talked to people and did stuff, I got into the rhythm of walking and by the time I got home, I was walking almost normally, and it felt pretty comfortable. It started to ache later, but....

So, yeah - something as minor as walking to the shops can be a victory. I had felt really confined and really affected by this injury. I couldn't get around properly. I couldn't walk to the shops as I normally do. I couldn't exercise by running as I normally do. But now I feel like I'm pretty much back to normal. I'm able to walk around normally. I can't run but I'll just walk for now until my ankle heals a bit more, and that's OK - I'm still exercising.