How a Recent Upper Back Muscle Spasm Did a Full Quantum Leap On My Life

For some people, pain of this magnitude can be severe; yet on the overall scheme of things, an unexpected muscle spasm the day after Easter Monday was a mild to moderate inconvenience for yours truly at the time. In Matthew McConaughey's words, this pain was (and still is) a red light. The latter is on the basis of McConaughey's recent book called Greenlights. From time to time during this article, I will reference this delightful analogy, of which significantly helps the simple things become massive. In short, this article will be a memoir, combined with sharing some pivotal pearls of wisdom that will surely benefit you. Take what you need, and leave the rest. Save yourself some of the pain that I had to experience, in order for the right ship to come and pass.

Little did I personally know that it (this unexpected muscle spasm) would turn my life upside down for the better in such a short space of time. Thanks to two nourishing and helpful physiotherapy sessions, I was fully healed in only four days. Other treatments, from an abundance of rest (bed and otherwise), as well as support from my friends and family also shaped this speedy recovery. Little did I know, that this pain was a powerful message from the universe to stop wasting time, and procrastinating on engaging in what I need to do (that is, some part-time study) in order to elevate and grow my business (a once red light, which is now a green light.) I knew that a small portion of my settlement payment from the sale of an investment home late last year was a "gift" in making this new life happen; yet lo and behold I was seemingly stuck in the familiar of temping every now and then, and therefore I paid the price for such programming that no longer served me and my life.

Case in point. I was recently engaging in some temporary work for the Government (a green light, that evolved into a yellow, and then a red light), in working night shift in a few different roles towards the end of this project. This was not a mistake, and there was a purpose to engaging in a few different roles in this project over a six now five-week period. The rewards from that experience gave me some extra manna from heaven with my bank account, as well as the opportunity to mentor others, and contribute to the economy some more. However in saying this, the universe clearly had other ideas.

Another green light to focus on, and I had to roll with the punches so to speak.

Could this out of the blue upper back and shoulder muscle spasm be a delayed Easter present? A lesson or two to be learnt? You better believe it. No one wants to wake up at 6am the day after Easter to be presented with such crippling, paralysing, and debilitating pain. Forget about making an appointment with your physical therapist. They will be booked out; even if you go beyond Medicare and Private Health Insurance to pay for such. That, and six hours of work with a prominent social media client (a normal part of my wonderful business) had to be done bedridden, as well as calling in sick to that temporary assignment, in order to rest up. Pain killers failed to work, and having the monthly menses was an added stroke of not so great luck. Although this was a minute circumstance (the muscle spasm); no other illness or injury that does not send you to hospital has never kept me bedridden all day and night for the first day of such said injury before. Not even testing positive to that C thing twice failed to do that. Uncertainty is reigning supreme here.

I am sure that you, dear reader, can relate to circumstances that force you to rest, and to slow down. It is not necessarily due to working long hours, or being in the fast lane of an emotional roller coaster ride; but rather the need to reflect on the direction of your life, so that you are not focusing on too many red lights, of which can stall the flow. It occurred to me that the back is the backbone of life, and therefore back pains in different parts of the back refers to the support structure/s in our lives. The late Louise Hay (in her iconic book You Can Heal Your Life) mentions that upper left back and shoulder pain resembles the lack of being emotionally supported in this journey called life; while spasms are a tightening of the muscles from fear. No wonder constant pain relief (ibuprofen) did not work.

In the healing journey (and that was more prominent when I had Long C*vid), I needed to assemble a "team" of therapists who believe in my recovery. The public system helped in some respects, while for physiotherapy/physical therapy; going fully private (fully paying out of pocket) was (and still is) a no brainer, and the green light to return to my physiotherapist first thing the following day. If that would not get me out of bed at that point in time, then nothing would have. Nothing motivated me to eat, and in no way, shape or form was I depressed; even though the current role in my journey of short term temporary employment, while continuing to run my own business on a part-time basis naturally came with a host of challenges.

The temporary work journey that I was on five weeks prior, was a journey in and of itself. The work was chilled and enjoyable to begin with, yet only having half an hour to enjoy a nourishing salad did not cut it for me. And I had to sit behind two people I used to work with, of who were working in a noisy help desk/call center, and therefore had to deal with abuse over the phones day in and day out. That was triggering. This was something that yours truly was not used to, while eating and enjoying life to her schedule as her own boss in normal circumstances. That two-week assignment ended, and the next phase of this assignment was to work with people on a high volume and face-to-face basis; and that was overwhelming/overstimulating...especially when you are used to working from home with yourself and a computer (your best friend in the IT industry. Enough said.) That part went on for another week, only to find myself now supervising 20 staff in another environment, with their constant wants, needs, and demands. From the beginning of April 2023 (as at the time of writing this); my role changed, where I was a Team Leader, and no longer a Supervisor...and yet I was being treated like a Supervisor; and hence not being paid accordingly to that title. You might be wondering what is the point to this back story (hello red light); yet please stay with me. There is some valuable advice to pass on here.

It all made sense when the physiotherapist mentioned that my sudden muscle spasm was an accumulation of pain over a five-week period, and coincidentally at that. I was focusing on the red lights out of fear, and that green to red light job suddenly was not fun anymore, and the lack of support in the end was not appreciated. This all came down to a limiting belief of "not being good enough" to take my business to the next level, as the content that I was learning in order to grow my business, and for it to generate some healthy passive income, was not initially sinking in. It all came back to the beginning of the pandemic in 2020, when my new UX Design course (the work that I am currently engaged in right now, and rightly have so for the last few years) shifted to online learning from the classroom. Who knew that it would take a muscle spasm the day after Easter to awaken me to the fact that I was (and still am) on the right track with my business; and as a result, the massive tide (change) has turned (hello green light) where I finally enrolled into the passive income playbook study that I needed to enrol into, in order to get my new Etsy shop underway; and to design some beautiful printables that my target audience would love. If you have a business that keeps and attracts clients, and is profitable without any debt; then you are good enough as an entrepreneur in that regard right? Absolutely. 100%.

There is nothing wrong with being of service to others by working for someone else/in having a job, however this part was (and still is) clearly a red flag (as per Matthew McConaughey, a red light) for me personally right now, as my business needs more of my time, energy, and attention for it to grow and expand.

Taking that all important next step (that's right, action) would not have happened, if it was not for that muscle spasm, and for the fairly immaculate timing of such. Muscle spasm, you are a legend in my books. You made me quit a now red light temporary job one week before completion, of which was not working for me in the end; plus you gave me the courage to finally become a student for the next phase of my business. Sure, it can be a little overwhelming, yet the inevitable could no longer be put off; and to me, that is now exciting beyond measure. It feels like my business is now giving me the most nourishing hug it has ever given me. It therefore feels like my business is congratulating me for getting through the proverbial ‘eye of the needle.’

How else do you know when a small circumstance can be incredibly life changing? And when the right ship is passing in the right direction?

Remember, dear reader, quality question asking puts your mind to work, in inciting, and hence in bringing forth quality responses.

In other words, you are avoiding a red light, and therefore focusing on the green lights in your life when you feel good after taking an action step that once scared you. A health scare for you could inspire you to change your fitness routine, and/or what you eat and drink. Those changes are massive in and of themselves, whereby a circumstance (think a red light, and/or some other challenge or mishap) shakes things up, and therefore inspires you to do something that is life changing for you. It could also mean buying a resource (even a book) that will change your life when you do something about it. In the case of that said book; you need to read it first. Just to name a few different and real life scenarios here.

People are not always mentors, yet during this journey of healing my painful and left field muscle spasm; crying (letting out some more tears of relief) was a powerful mentor and pleasant slap in the face for me, as well as the actual pain itself. Take the pain relief, and/or go for physical therapy treatments in some cases; even if you think and feel that such treatment/s are not working. Trust the process of solving a small (insignificant issue) in order to breakthrough to a massive green light to something big.

Pay attention to what your intuition is telling you, and act on those intuitive nudges. If you do not, then bigger and not always better mentors will come to whack you in the face, metaphorically speaking of course; yet the enhanced circumstances will hurt. (Hospital possibly. Who knows. Not the red lights that you want regardless.)

Allow the love and support in. Be open to receiving. By allowing my ex (now platonic best friend) to feel my pain, and to therefore be a little affectionate with me for example (not flogging a dead horse here); I got some closure on why our romantic relationship did not work in the past. That also helped me dispel the "not good enough" limiting belief that caused that upper left back and shoulder pain in the first place. Red lights are not merely an instruction to stop what you are doing; but rather a signpost to remind you that you are off course with the natural flow of life. Some incredible lesson/s will hit you like there is no tomorrow. If you listen, those life lesson/s are initially small. Breaking through such a mentor or two will lead you to the treasure chest in the direction of life where you are supposed to be heading. That is exciting. It was like hitting a speed bump, and therefore successfully conquering that speed bump gives you an all pass map to the freeway. No more cruise control for you.

In the process, you are going to piss a few people off, when you give up something that pales in comparison to the goodies (the juicier stuff) that awaits you on the other end. For example, in this circumstance, my temporary employer and recruiter were not happy with me for having to pull the plug on my work assignment a week early. In this case, my health and business had to be priorities. These life areas for me right now are massive, in comparison to a short term job. Everything has a purpose, a trajectory; yet the low hanging fruits are in the green lights, where you do not need to be a fit Tarzan in order to climb that unstable tree.

Regardless as to how wobbly that Jenga tower may be; you must stay relaxed at all costs. You and I know that stress is toxic, as well as it feeding your sailing ship some junk food (as in negative energy). Trust the process, and have gratitude for it. Take the good bits, and leave the rest. The process is a journey, yet parts of it seem to be a big deal at the moment, yet when the fruit is fully ripe, the s!*t falls away.

Remember, you are not indispensable. As a side, it was thoughtful that the relevant recruitment agency texted me on the last day of that assignment (five days post spasm) to see how I was feeling; yet on the other hand, their ship/the clients ship had to sail (the show must go on so to speak) with or without me, for deadlines to be met. My recovery ship had to pass, in order to sail the entrepreneurship one further out yonder. Forgive yourself, as well as others during the process, for when those green lights turn to yellow and/or red lights, and vice versa.

A week on from the initial painful event (when it is on a smaller scale, like my four days of back pain was); people have already moved on. Therefore it pays massive dividends to remain true to yourself, and to your path and journey to bigger and better things and experiences. Yes, the muscle spasm was a massive (yet still a small) problem/challenge the day after Easter; yet it is ancient history now. I went ahead and purchased that Passive Income Playbook course earlier today (at the time of writing this); even while on a short holiday interstate. Abundance lies in doing the work, and in enjoying the journey that the massive solution to a now small problem (when reduced to dust) brings.

In summary, when you focus on the green lights (in Matthew McConaughey's words), you reap the rewards. This actor was known for starring in rom com movies. Upon his wife becoming pregnant; a massive rebranding of his acting work was on the cards. This meant that Matthew had to stay true to himself, where he had to stick to his guns and say no to rom com opportunities from Hollywood; even when he turned down a $14.5 million contract, of which was similar to an $8 million contract. For him, starring in rom coms was a small thing in his rebranding journey. Had he not said yes to a change of scenery in the acting business; he might not have won an Oscar, and movies like Dallas Buyers Club, and The Wolf of Wall Street would not have been the same. Chest pumps (inspiring or otherwise) may not have come to the surface either. Therefore, there is ample proof in the pudding that the small moments and circumstances in life can lead to massive shifts and breakthroughs. Breakdowns are precursors to breakthroughs. Even a relationship breakup can be massive; and anywhere from five minutes to a few years down the track...that event pales in comparison to something massive as a costly divorce, or in dodging another massive bullet to name.

When people tell you that you "have been through a lot" in a short space of time; then you know that your ships are passing. Fear is a killer, and the below song is a reminder of this passing ship, where a smaller ship is traded for a bigger and better one with faith, time, courage, and awareness:

The small things is like you being a caterpillar, and we know what happens to caterpillars with time right? It turns into a butterfly. Be the butterfly that makes it through the storm, in the spirit of Vocal Media's Passing Ships challenge, where the small things can and do make a massive impact in your life. It does not have to mean that you experience a muscle spasm in order to awaken to the greatness that is the growth and expansion of an already successful business. A fallen tree indeeds grows back into stronger roots. Less impressed, more involved. That is the green light that Matthew McConaughey also talks about in this recent book:

Thank you to Vocal Media for the Passing Ships challenge, and for allowing me to share my recent breakthrough here. And to fellow Vocal Creator Cheryl E Preston for this challenge idea. And no, I did not rely on ChatGPT, or any other AI thingy to put this story together. Independent voices reign supreme.

Furthermore, the author is not affiliated with Matthew McConaughey. His book Greenlights, and the example of his Hollywood career are only such; examples of passing ships in making this article less of a memoir.