Saturday marked the 3rd anniversary of my neck injury, which occurred just months before my black belt test—two events are inextricably linked. Rehabbing a neck injury (not martial arts related) while training for a black belt test is not something I recommend, but I did it. What made it work was everyone on my medical team agreeing that training for the test was the best way to rehabilitate my neck. This is post 5 of 6 in a series about that experience.

The hardest part of my journey wasn’t the hours of rehab and training every day—that was my joy! Having horrific pain eased by doing what you love most is a bizarre blessing. The real challenge was the uncertainty of my future. My medical team believed I could heal enough to take my test, but no one knew how long it would take or where my recovery would lead.

My Sensei gave me the choice: I could take the test on time with modifications to keep me safe, such as holding a horse stance for a long time, or I could delay it until I was healed enough to take a traditional test.

I opted to wait.

Before you become too impressed, my exact thought was, “I would rather get punched in the face than hold a horse stance.”

A friend recently said, “Resilience is the balance between peace and uncertainty.”

Oh wow, that truly encapsulates my journey. I had to learn Radical Acceptance—facing the reality of my injury with honesty, embracing its limits, and still nurturing hope. This acceptance wasn’t passive—it was an active choice to work with my body rather than against it, after years of pushing past its breaking point.

That’s what resilience looked like in my journey. Now, let’s explore what it could look like in yours.

Action Steps

1. Find Peace: Notice when you’re fighting yourself. How can you honor your needs instead of resisting them?

2. Navigate Uncertainty: What do you need to accept? And what is in your control?

3. Build Resilience: Resilience is balancing peace and uncertainty. What’s one small, aligned step you can take today?

I’d love to hear your story—what’s one way you’ve developed resilience in your life?

Post 5 of 6. If you're just joining my journey, you may read from the beginning here.