“I could walk a mile in your shoes, but I already know they're just as uncomfortable as mine. Let's walk next to each other instead...” ― Lynda Meyers
One thing that I have noticed with us hippies is that we all connect to how uncomfortable each other’s shoes are. Downright painful. Limiting. Frustrating.
But those same shoes that, at one point, gave us blisters and pain are now allowing many to leap, run and walk with hope. The shoes are called Recovered. Renee purchased her “Recovered” shoes with pain, surgery and persistence. Her favorite “shoes” allowed her to walk into a place called New Hope.
You see, Renee, is an avid walker. Before her surgery she walked. She walked every day on her lunch break in Pittsburgh. Walking brings peace to Renee. She would walk through the city, but one day things changed. She began to experience that all too familiar hip pain – the stabbing kind that takes your breath away. Renee’s pain continued increasing over a two year “walk” through this hip journey until she could not even lift her right leg up. She had trouble like most of us getting in and out of a car. Frustrating. Painful. Defeating. She walked through the pain on concrete and walking trails, but the pain was unrelenting and began finding her just sitting.
Her right hip was surgically repaired. And she began finding new hope – looking forward to walking again – not just to get from Point A to Point B, but for pleasure – for peace.
Although she always loved to walk, she never saw it as exercise. One of her biggest successes through the recovery was developing a self-discipline to actually exercise as she saw the importance of keeping health and incorporating daily exercise. Renee said, "I have learned SO many things about my body and how important the core muscles are to my recovery so it was a blessing in disguise. I actually feel healthier now than I did before my surgery thanks to doing these exercises. “
Renee also had some moments during her recovery that amazed her and gave her a sense of pride bigger than the fear and pain that she had going into her hip surgery. In fact, she hiked 8 miles in Yosemite recently which was a personal best for her. On her trip to California she averaged 150,000 steps per day.
Renee was also quite proud of her trip up Moro Rock. Moro Rock is a straight up 350 steps to the top with some gorgeous views that allowed Renee to have a true view of the light at the end of the tunnel.
Renee’s recipe for success was sheer will and perseverance mixed in with hard work. She remembered being asked by her surgeon to practice one simple exercise and she could not do it. She cried and then wiped those tears off her face and kept trying until she got it done!
Renee’s hope is that you can see the end of your hip journey by seeing her trip and realizing that finding hip success is hard and most times has to be fought for. She is a fighter and encourages you to take out those gloves and fight through pain, through those tears of frustration, knock out FAI and reclaim your health. And then go shopping and buy those new shoes called, “Recovered” so you can walk with Renee and countless others to the town of New Hope.
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