I’ve been nursing a headache since yesterday morning. Since about 8:35 yesterday morning. No need to speculate what caused this headache; it was self-inflicted.
I was nearing the end of my workout routine and decided to try a new machine. It was an arm curl machine, the kind with a handle attached to a cable. I placed the pin at 150lbs (just seeing if you’re still reading) and sat down. Expecting the resistance to be similar to the machine I normally do curls on, I gave the handle a healthy tug. Actually, I yanked it up so fast I never saw it coming.
The handle, a long piece of solid metal, smacked me right between the eyes — where the nose and eyebrows and forehead meet. At first, everything hurt and I couldn’t tell if I had broken my nose or not. For a few moments my vision went blurry and I just sat there, stunned.
Fortunately, nothing was broken but my pride. I have to admit my first thought was: “I hope I don’t have a broken nose or two black eyes” because I’m scheduled to preach this weekend. It’s bad enough that I’m catching grief over this weekend being Broncos vs. Chargers; if I had to speak with a broken nose or black eye, I wouldn’t hear the end of it.
I immediately went home and put ice on it. For the rest of yesterday, I had this piercing headache that ran from the front straight through to the back. Today it has downgraded to a minor headache.
This morning I was back in the gym, but strategically avoided the machine that nearly cost me my life, or at least my pride. But just as a kid has to get back on the bike, I know I have to sit down and try it again.
To paraphrase Ronald Reagan, “Honey, next time I’ll duck.”