Good Trade?

Remember "Dancing with Wolves" when John Dunbar was trading with an Indian and the Indian said "Good. Trade." Yeah, I'm a nerd like that.

Well that's the line that comes to mind when I think about working out. For nearly a year, I've been hitting it hard. 3-4 times a week, sometimes more. Weights, cardio, classes, kick boxing. I've even been asked to be a kickboxing instructor, and a beach body coach (I hope you aren't puking - I KNOW I don't have a "beach body" but it's not a literal title). So I'm obviously doing something right.

So here I am, a year into this quest to be "fit." I don't look half bad. I don't want to vomit when I look in the mirror at myself in a swimming suit. I have muscle tone. I have self confidence. I have a hobby.

But I also have a torn-up, hurts-all-the-time, cry-myself-to-sleep, live-on-Motrin bum shoulder now. Every.single.punch makes me cringe on that side. The muscles underneath my chest wall have torn. My doc said I have two options: surgery or strip out the damaged tissue or cortisone shots. I've had cortisone shots in my back. THEY.SUCK. My massage therapist says that weekly massages will help strip it down and relieve the pain. Don't I wish I could afford weekly massages (I struggle justifying them every 6-8 weeks). My chiropractor is currently saving me from crawling into a state of pain-induced-stupor. Yet I go to class three nights a week and punch the daylights out of anything that moves, and I don't even think of pain during that hour. It's the hours and days after that make me trade the gloves for the motrin.

Has a bum shoulder for a leaner, toned body been good trade? The jury is still out.