Queen of the Klutzes...

So there I was, walking down the stairs in my apartment building yesterday, carrying my purse, the bag I schlep to work, and a box o'stuff to be shipped to a friend, when my heel got caught in bottom of my jeans...and I fell.

It was one of those things that seemed almost to happen in slow motion. As soon as I lost my footing, I knew the fall was unstoppable, and that the landing was going to be painful. I was standing about 5'10" in those shoes...

And it was painful. After sorta tumbling sideways down about five steps, I landed on my back on the lobby floor, whacking my head on the ground as I did. Luckily, I didn't lose consciousness, but I did have the wind knocked out of me for a few seconds.

And then I didn't know what to do. I stayed put for a few moments, trying to assess how seriously I'd hurt myself. Then I sat up, and crawled carefully over to the stairs to sit there for a little while. I had no idea what to do. Should I go back to my apartment? Should I go to the hospital? Should I get in my car and go to work? I seemed to be okay, though completely rattled, so I eventually got up, picked up my things and went to my car. I sat in it for a few moments, still unsure of how to proceed.

I ended up heading to work, because aside from the nasty headache, I was intact. And I figured it would be best to be around people who could keep an eye on me all day and call for help if it turned out that I WAS seriously hurt. Of course, the first thing I did when I got there was to research concussions online, to see whether I really SHOULD be seeking medical attention.

Here's the really amazing thing: aside from the bump* on my head, and a couple of surprisingly small bruises, I'm fine. I've shown no symptoms of a serious concussion. I'm sore today in many places -- my neck, my upper back, and my core muscles are especially unhappy -- but nothing is broken, nothing bled, nothing is so bad that some rest, relaxation, stretching and anti-inflammatories won't heal. (And I am closely monitoring myself, in case something serious develops...)

I'm thinking I should stop thinking such negative thoughts about my body. Yes, it's bigger than I'd like it to be, but it has been strong and resilient through all of the torture I've put it through in my 43 years. And perhaps some of that extra padding I carry around actually helped me in this case...!


*i so wanted to write "i have a bimp on my head," but wasn't sure how many people would get it...