The Musings Of An Opinionated Sod [Help Me Grow!]

So today’s the 5th November – and whilst there’ll be loads of blog posts that talk about the history of Guy Falkes – I’m going to be talking about a twisted ankle.

As many of you will have probably gathered, I’m quite busy at the moment – with an inordinate amount of time being spent travelling here, there and everywhere – and whilst it is way, way, way better than working in a bank, it is still quite tiring, especially dealing with the bloody time differences that I find myself having to work with/adapt to.

The thing is, when I was a kid, I didn’t do ‘tired’ … infact, one of the main reasons I’m an only child is because I was such a little shit as a kid and survived on just a few hours kip each night.

[I’d like to take this opportunity yo publically apologise to my parents for their years and years and years of sleep depravation]

Photo: Martineno

Anyway, the point of this crappy background is that all this tiredness has made me [1] Grumpy [2] Airy Fairy and [3] Clumsy … and whilst you probably think that’s all quite normal for me … it isn’t, which is why I was quite surprised when last week I slipped and ended up twisting my ankle badly.

Except here’s the thing … while it hurt [infact it hurt like a complete bastard] the pain was seemingly overwhelmed by memories of my childhood flooding back into my mind.

I know this might be quite shocking for you to comprehend, but when I was younger, I was quite athletic. I played rugby for the school [glory boy winger], ran for the school [100 meter king], played footie … I was Mr Active … and because of that, I would find myself getting injured quite a lot, however now I’m 38 and more obsessed with sports I can either play using a Nintendo DS/Xbox 360/PS3 or watching it on the telly … my sporting injuries have reduced to nearly zero.

And whilst that might mean less physical pain for me, it also means I am getting older because I no longer feel invincible – that feeling as a kid where you believed you could overcome anything that was thrown at you.

Photo: Not me, so stop laughing

Whether it was trying to jump your heavy Raleigh Grifter over 10 people lying down in front of a makeshift ramp or simply going in for tackles against people years older and taller than you, you felt the worst you’d ever get was maybe a bloody knee or a twisted ankle so you only looked in one direction. Forwards.

The thing is, when I twisted my ankle last week, it brought back all these memories of being outdoors, breathing the air, laughing with my friends, having adventures I’d remember forever [but didn’t realise at the time] … and whilst I have a wonderful and full life, there’s something about those days that were truly magical.

Sure it might be because I was naive or simply not very worldy, but I think there should be more of it … so I hereby declare 2009 as the year of reconnecting … where we stop relying on technology for our kicks or communication and get up and get out again – experience life with the same attitude as when we thought the worst that could happen is a bloody knee or a twisted ankle.

Anyone up for it or is this a byproduct of me being in the Google boys company again?