Being in physical therapy for having a bum knee has been teaching me a lot in patience. In as much as I am a fan of just getting the quick fix, this knee thing isn’t going away soon and I have to have a lot of patience and self control in order to get it done.

First off, it takes at least an hour and a half of my day just getting there, and since I don’t want to drive and park for myself to somewhere that takes (supposedly) two short jeepney rides, it takes some self control in being patient with the irresponsible driving and over waiting that taking public transportation needs.

Second is dealing with the red tape. Each time I go, I need to be there at least thirty minutes beforehand so that they can request each session be approved by my HMO. I really don’t understand why it just doesn’t get approved per round of treatment since it seems very much the same process each time and I actually got this done myself in the past for the MRI that preceded all of the sessions.

Third are these:

I am a very impatient person, and these sessions take around 40 minutes to an hour. I know it’s supposed to be slow and steady progress, and without losing the weight (which is another lesson in patience and self control with food that I don’t quite have) the whole point is moot, but I am slowly enjoying the sessions as they force me to sit in a quiet space and just focus on the healing and strengthening that my knee needs to get rid of the cyst and tear that I inadvertently did to it.

Being an adult is exhausting sometimes and this knee thing is really taking a whole lot of energy and time, but as I’ve come to learn, rushing something won’t help things, sometimes it actually may make it worse. It’s how I injured the knee in the first place, and from my experience, even if you put in the work, if your body isn’t ready or you don’t know what you’re doing, you’ll be spending years and hundreds of thousands of pesos paying for looking good for half a year in pictures.

That doesn’t mean I’m giving up though. I’ll get back to shape even if it kills me. And for now, it will kill the cookie loving, ice cream hog in me for now.

What’s taught you patience lately?