In Kneed of Time

I’ve been suffering from this chronic knee problem now for three weeks. Three weeks ago today, I couldn’t finish my 3 mile run because the pain was so severe. I haven’t run since.

            For some people, being injured is like a bad dream. We think we’re invincible, and that this obstacle is some sort of fluke. When we don’t wake up, however, we get confused, and that confusion leads to frustration and anger. Funny thing about frustration…it seems to impede logical thought.

            Every worst outcome that could possibly occur (including being chased by a wild bear that catches and eats me because I can’t run away) has filled my mind since I stopped running. What if I lose my ROTC scholarship over this? What if I’ll never run again? I’m a wreck most of the time, falling victim to this melodrama that has sucked the luster from my life.

           

            This is why it’s always a profitable thing to have friends who aren’t retarded or emotionally unstable.

            They are sympathetic, but they all know, or assume they know, that this is a phase from which I will recover. Aaron has been throwing remedial advice at me, from icing to elevation to knee braces to literally throwing Advil at me, and I take it to heart. Hannah doesn’t have much to add besides her personal conviction that cookies solve all existing problems. Allyssa tells me to stop whining and toughen up; they aren’t going to drop my scholarship, I’ll recover, and we’ll all forget this happened.

            Logically, I suppose they’re right. Injuries heal, important people give other people time to recover, and three weeks isn’t a lifetime. The only problem is that pathos can be so much more powerful than logos…especially in my own head. 

P.S. This isn't a great post about rhetoric. I just wanted to whine about my knee...pathos and logos just happened to hop on the bandwagon. Speaking of P.S., Hannah asked me what P.S. meant other day. I thought that was pretty cute.