Shocker! Broken Foot. When Things Don’t Go To Plan.
I was sober! It wasn’t even a Christmas party.
Happy Friday.
Have you survived the party season? Well done. As you can see I haven’t.
This is the nightmare before Christmas – I’ve broken my blimmin’ 5th metatarsal.
Isn’t that what footballers like Beckham and Messi do? Mine’s not quite as glam. I turned my ankle on a bit of sticky-uppy pavement not 200m from The Gun pub by Spitalfields market in London where I live.
Everyone else around me seemed a bit tipsy on their way to various office “do's” dressed in Santa hats and reindeer antlers, but I was stone cold sober. Seriously?
One of my clients was shocked.
“You weren’t even at a Christmas bash, you mean there’s no story behind the broken foot?”
Must say, you can only imagine the carnage in A&E at the Royal London Hospital. One poor young lady dressed in a very smart shocking-pink Ted Baker coat was groaning & vomiting in the waiting area. She was with a fellow colleague who was swaying and trying to help but all I could think of was…
“They’re lucky, they’ll have hangovers tomorrow, maybe a stomach pump job, and I’m going to be stuck in this boot for 6 weeks.”
Things don’t always go to plan.
That’s a good lesson in life and in your career.
Don’t you HATE being ill or injured? I’ve been through the 5- step grieving process over the past week, and for once I’ve had time, oh yes, lots of time on the sofa to reflect and understand how to mentally get over the trauma. And, yes, there are 5 stages (even for a broken foot);
Denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance
Denial..
Can you believe, after the ankle incident, I hobbled to the pub and went for a drink with my neighbour Suzi Godson (a journalist from the Times) and thought to myself,
“That bloody hurt more than I care to admit, but the pain will wear off in a moment, if only I can put my foot up it will get better”
We sat and had 2 glasses of wine. Then when I got up, I realised I couldn’t walk so I called a taxi and went straight to A&E.
Anger…
“What? Before Christmas, this is ridiculous, I wasn’t even drunk, grrrrr, this is sooooo annoying. I’m too busy to be injured, who can I sue, was that pavement against regulation, who can I blame?”
Bargaining…
“I promise I’ll never wear platform shoes again, please don’t let me have a broken bone, please please not a broken bone, I’ll do anything, I’ll calm down and stop rushing around, I promise, please give me my life back. ”
Depression…
This happened on day 2…
“boo, hoo, sniff, sniff, I am sooooooo depressed, I am stuck on the sofa, my daughter was crying about not being able to jump on the bed on Christmas morning, this is DARK, I am in a dark place….pass me a tissue, the tears are flowing now. ”
Acceptance…(The Bounceback)
This happened on day 3…
“OK, it’s not the end of the world. Wearing a surgical boot like John Barrowman on ITV’s I’m a Celebrity isn’t as bad as all that. I must be on trend. It’s not that bad, I can write my book in peace. Life is ok, it’s a small set back, Sh*t happens, come on, it’s ok, I can watch 100 movie.s”
These 5 steps remind me of my clients who suffer from Glossophobia (fear of public speaking) which is why I’m currently writing my book. There are 5 stages to getting over anxiety, trauma and fear.
How have you gotten over your traumas and fears? Can you relate to these 5 steps?
Please do share – drop me a line to help me feel better. esther@estherstanhope.com