On Monday, I was fouled during basketball, and my right shoulder briefly popped out of its socket, and then popped back in. It hurt.
But I play basketball with men, and crying would be…well, a sissy thing to do.All I could think was, “Do I shake this off and go back to the game, or do I walk out of the gym, and put this shoulder on ice?”
I’ve been playing basketball for 25 years. I’ve had ankle sprains, torn knee ligaments, broken fingers, and more.
I’ve learned to be the judge of my own pain; there are some injuries I can walk off, and others that need immediate care.
Injuries happen at work, too. You’re left out of an important email exchange, or you get cut off by your boss in the middle of a sentence.
When the injury happens to you, you need to ask: “Is this something I can play through, or do I need to address it?”
In most cases, you can play through it, and you do.
In extreme cases, we need the courage and clarity to address the injury and the person who caused the injury.
What if you’re the one who injured another?
You do what Brian did after he fouled me: he called the foul on himself, immediately apologized, and asked if I was ok. And he didn’t do it again. We could all benefit from following his example on - and off - the court.
Injuries are a part of life…on the court and in the office. All we can ask of each other is to deal with them, and play on.
