Happily Bruised and Battered

I grabbed the rebound and began sprinting to the other side of the court. "Fake right, pass left." I executed, but my teammate missed the shot. I went for the rebound, and the next thing I know, I'm on the ground, my mouth bleeding and my leg throbbing.

Ouch.

Incredible. The biggest guy on the court happened to grab hold of the ball. I was behind him, and as he whipped around, I got a taste of some delectable elbow.

I've had better.

Now there was some serious velocity behind this elbow which sent me flying. As I'm crashing to the ground, my foot got pinned behind his leg causing my leg to twist awkwardly.

Boom. Grade II High ankle sprain. It's a miracle I didn't lose any teeth from that elbow.

So I hobble back to my office at work with a tissue over my fat lip, looking forward to a nice healthy lunch. Then, I remember my other problem...

I've been suffering from a mysterious sore throat all week. I have no other symptoms other than an incredibly sore throat, especially when I swallow. So what does this mean? It means the lunch that I was looking forward to, is now an incredibly painful chore that I need to endure just to hold off my hunger pangs.

Today, it's raining. I hate the rain...or at least when it rains on the weekends. It ruins basically all activities involving the outdoors, and since I do alot of outdoorsy activities on the weekends (although I suppose my ankle would put a damper on that this week), it renders me frustratingly frustrated.

I'm incredibly happy.

I know what you're thinking. "Oh Paa-leeease Arun! Get Real. You're doing all this complaining about how battered and bruised you are and you expect me to believe you're happy! I actually felt sorry for handsome little you, until you mentioned all this incredibly happy stuff! Be honest!"

I am being honest! So, how is it that I'm still in a great state of positivity? Look at all of the disasters I avoided!

It's a wonder I didn't get my teeth knocked out! A fat, cut, lip is nothing and will heal up in a couple of days. A few inches higher, and I could've had a broken nose! I think I'm a funny guy, but I really don't want to be known as the Indian Owen Wilson.

A high ankle sprain, while no minor scratch, is still nothing major. In the last 6 months, I've seen a torn ACL, a ruptured MCL, and a broken ankle on the basketball court. Those things take AGES to fully recover from. I'll be back in no time!

This sore throat does suck. I was thinking, in a nightmare scenario, what if I had this sore throat for the rest of my life? Sweet Jesus what a nightmare! As much as I love to eat, and as much as it hurts to eat right now, that would be the worst thing ever! Luckily, it should be gone in a couple of days.

But AT LEAST I don't have the flu like my buddy Jeff. He's bed ridden right now. I on the other hand have no other symptoms of anything. To quote my old roommate Tim To (with my name inserted instead of his), "The only thing stronger than Arun, is Arun's immune system!"

My way of keeping happy is this: anytime I get the urge or inkling to feel self pity, I think about all of the much worse scenarios that could have played out, and envision everyone who is in a similar, yet much worse situation that I. Putting perspective on things really makes you appreciate the great things you have and the terrible things you don't have.

I don't have the flu, a broken ankle, and some missing teeth...hooray!!!!

My modeling career is still intact, as is my basketball career (ok, ok...so I don't exactly have a basketball career, but I DO play basketball at work, so that kind of counts right?)

So just remember, count your blessings when you're down, and you'll get right back up!

Today's lesson has been sponsored by Big Lance's Elbow.