Modify. Don't Quit.


Growing up, my dad had two sayings that I heard over and over again:

"There's no such word as 'can't.'"

And...

"Don't quit."

I've carried those words with me for decades.

They came back to me this morning in yoga but in a way I hadn't expected.

One of the unexpected lessons I've learned since my knee replacement has nothing to do with my knee.

It's about modification.

I'm back in yoga, but I still can't kneel comfortably. That means whenever the class moves into table pose, Cat/Cow, or any position that puts weight on my right knee, I have to do something different. Instead of staying on my knees, I rise into a lunge. During planks, I rely more on my arms, shoulders, and chest because my knee can't help.

Ironically, some of these "easier" modifications make me work even harder. Today I found myself sweating during our gentle class.

For a moment I thought, This would be so much easier if I could just do what everyone else is doing.

Then I realized that life is full of modified poses.

There are difficult conversations we don't want to have.

Chores we keep putting off.

Projects that seem overwhelming.

Phone calls we've been avoiding.

Changes we wish we didn't have to make.

Sometimes we avoid them because they're uncomfortable. Sometimes because they're boring. Sometimes because we're simply tired.

And sometimes that's okay. If we're healing physically or emotionally, there are seasons when rest is exactly what we need.

But healing isn't the same as giving up.

Eventually, we have to find another way forward.

Maybe we can't do it the way we used to. Maybe we need to approach it differently. Maybe we need to ask for help, break it into smaller pieces, or simply take one step instead of ten.

That's modification.

The goal isn't to force ourselves into a pose that hurts.

The goal is to keep moving.

Today, as I rose into another lunge while everyone else stayed comfortably on their knees, I realized I wasn't doing less. I was simply taking a different path.

And that's true in life, too.

When something is hard, don't assume you have to quit.

Look at it from another angle.

Modify.

Then keep going. Thanks for the advice Dad, I didn't  appreciate it so much back then but I do now. 

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