My guardian ankle

No, it’s no misspelling, I really did write “my guardian ankle” and not my “guardian angel”. I’ve found my guardian angel already, but I think my ankles may have some special powers too. Rather it’s the lack of power in the muscles around my ankle that make me think that my ankle is special. Some people have Achilles heels, I have my weak ankles that have made me fall about 6 or 7 times since 1991.

In the past five weeks, I’ve fallen twice. No crazy stories. The first time it happened, I was speaking to my friend by her car and then I turned around to step on the sidewalk and fell. I had to crawl quickly so she wouldn’t run me over. The next time, I was jogging and trying to move from the pavement to the dirt path next to it and really hurt my ankle. It was badly swollen for many hours and I had to take medicine to kill the pain. The obvious lesson of course is that I need to go to physical therapy and strengthen my ankles and the surrounding muscles. I am due to go to the Frankfurt Book Fair in Germany in a few weeks. I can’t risk falling onto a potential publisher:) They might consider it too forward!

Beyond my obvious need for medical assistance, I think there is a deeper lesson. I learned from two acupuncturists this week that the meridians that pass near my ankle are those of the bladder, liver and kidneys. Surprise, surprise! Just when my digestion was getting better and I thought my spleen was stronger, I find out that my weak ankles may be another symptom of my spleen issues. A weak spleen can weaken other parts of the digestive system. So if the liver is weak, my ankles may suffer.

My ankles are telling me to slow down and rest. Maybe my brain got a sprain when I fell and needs to rest too! My body can’t handle where I am running. Maybe my two falls were preventing me from something worse that could have happened to me if I hadn’t been stopped in my tracks. I’ve appreciated just laying on the couch this week with my leg elevated. I’ll take it easy from now on.