Your health is more important than your goals

Last Saturday, I had a terrible ankle injury.

It was a casual night, resting at home from a stressful week at work.

Since I’ve spent the whole day at home, I decided to hit the gym.

It was around 10 pm, so I knew the gym was going to be crowded AF.

I didn’t really plan on lifting weights, as I mainly came to play table tennis with some friends.

They were late, so I decided to have a quick lifting session in the meantime.

Started off with some pull-ups, and the session ended right away.

When landing from the pull-up, I didn’t notice an elevated box under me, and sprained my ankle while landing.

That shit hurt like hell.

I crawled my way back to the reception, asking for ice.

Sadly, they didn’t have it (which was pretty off-putting for a gym not to have ice).

I called an uber and went home, crawling my way back to the room.

I layed down, grabbed ice, and immediately called my mom (a doctor).

The ankle was pretty red and swollen.

There was nothing I could do at that point, so I didn’t think much of it and went to sleep.

The day after, I couldn’t walk on it.

Can’t even take 2 steps without feeling tremendous pain.

So I called my dad on short notice to come pick me up (it was a 1-hour drive).

Back in my parents’ home, I decided to take a rest for the next couple of days.

It felt so weird doing that since I’ve been on a huge streak towards my goals.

I felt like nothing could have stopped that momentum.

But then reality struck.

This injury is more mentally draining than it is physically.

This is the moment where everything goes down for athletes.

This is the moment you’re tested for your true strength.

Will you complain and rush the process?

Or will you take a step back and do what’s in your control?

Take care of your health, your goals aren’t going anywhere.

It’s all about playing the long-term games.

Thanks for reading.

Achraf