“Do What Makes You Happy”

At my six-week (blown out to eight) post-operation checkup, just as we were wrapping up our consultation, I stopped my surgeon from dismissing me by throwing in a quick question about exercise. Can I run again? Can I go to the gym and lift weights? What am I allowed to do, exactly?

He stopped. For once, for in all the appointments we’ve had, he’s shuffling papers, typing facts and millimetre measurements and other scattered personal data into the computer, he paused, looked me right in the eye and said, “Do what makes you happy”.

Now, maybe it’s ‘that time of year’, or perhaps because these last few months have been a little rough and I’ve been required to carry on as normal, but when he said that – and I don’t want to sound melodramatic or anything – I admit I wondered, ” – How?”