By Joshua Stevens
As if emerging from a tunnel onto the playing field before a game, real life came back to me again. I was sitting in the passenger seat of my car, my good friend, Jack, climbing into the driver’s seat to take me to the hospital. My last memory: a grassy field, a high-speed turn, and the roots of an oak tree. I had crashed my bike at cyclocross practice but had no memory of it. The damage: a broken hand, fractured rib, a split eyebrow, road rash that could be measured in square inches, and most importantly a concussion. I say ‘importantly,’ because this experience of memory loss and the following days of recuperation from the fall were some of the most enlightening of my recent years.
For the next few days, life seemed simple. As simple as putting one foot in front of the other. While I went to work as usual and traversed my weekend plans, life was somehow clearer and less complex than it had seemed before. Less important matters faded into background noise. I felt very present in the moment and grateful for the rapid healing my body was experiencing. Many of us this Fall are tackling one of the most challenging events we as humans have conjured up… the marathon. Many of us do these year after year because these events inevitably push us towards that same state of living in the present. Much like my post-concussion experience, life is very simple in the marathon. When running a marathon the only concern, literally, is placing one foot ahead of the other. Here’s the start. Here’s the finish. You can run or walk to get there. Good luck!
Is Life (with a big ‘L’) any different? You are born (the start). You will eventually die (the finish). What you do in between is all up to you. How present to each step in Life will you be? Just like in the marathon you feel every one. The closer you get to the end, the more meaningful each becomes. I am working to continue to preserve this good feeling though I’m close to total physical recovery and feel well. I believe this feeling of being in the present moment and not consumed by what is next or what is in the past is important to all of us. I understand Buddhists jokingly refer to head trauma and concussions as “cheap enlightenment” I think I am beginning to understand a little of what they mean.
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Joshua Stevens, D.C., is a holistic chiropractor in Chapel Hill and Durham where he utilizes chiropractic, acupuncture, detoxification, nutrition, and cold laser therapy with patients. A two-time Ironman finisher, he focuses on racing cyclocross and mountain bikes… much easier!
