While in the Bahamas my aunt and I had a lot of quality chat time, information sharing, et cetera.
One thing that she shared with me was how to fall. Not how to properly enjoy the fall season, nor how to keep from falling emotionally, but how to fall physically in a way that you won't get hurt.
Seriously.
She told me to just go with the fall--once you start going, keep going with it until you stop moving. That when you catch yourself (or try to catch yourself) you hurt yourself.
Well, today I got to put that into practice. I was helping boss man hang up Christmas lights in his office and I was standing on a chair. I needed a few more inches so I went to hop up on the chair arm. See where this is going? I hop up with one foot and the chair starts flipping. I drop the Christmas lights, and try to aim for the couch. I fall into the couch but then bounce off of it, landing flat on my back on the floor. Katherine who saw said demonstration said it was the most graceful fall ever. I got up (with no bruises) before boss man was even off the couch end to make sure I wasn't broken.
Score one hundred for my aunt!
HAAA!! Your aunt sounds like a very wise person. Relatedly, I once heard that the reason that drunk drivers tend to be not hurt (or less hurt than the non-drunk parties) in their DUI wrecks is because since their inhibitions/reflexes are lowered due to the alcohol, their bodies don't tense up/react to the impact of the collision. Like YOUR (non-drunk) muscles would freeze up/stiffen, and then your spine/bones would still get all shaken up from the impact, which would cause lots of torn muscle fibers, etc. That's the whiplash. But the drunk person's muscles stay loose the whole time, which means the movement of their bones/spine isn't as traumatic to their muscles. BTW, it was the ER doctor who treated me after a car accident that told me this, so I think it's probably reliable. :) Anyway, I'm thinking the same logic could apply to why it's better to "go with" a fall than try to break it? Food for thought, anyway!
ReplyDelete