Disclaimer: I’m not sayin’ that I am successful, but it’s kind of important to have a left knee if you’re planning on being successful!

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Whatever your views are on the current politics of the UK and its Prime Minister, you would agree on one thing: having the right support at home is so very important. I don’t think Mrs May could have survived her bruising week if her husband had not been there for her. Whisky and beans, that made me smile.

My other half doesn’t always do the right thing. In fact, he gets more things wrong than right. Maybe it is the man-brain, but personally, he is fiercely independent, rigid and opinionated on many issues. He is not big on romantic gestures and has little patience for some of my behavioural traits. Oh, we do fight and I so wanna trade him in.

But the thing is, he has always been there for me, unwavering in his conviction that this is the right thing, this thing called a relationship, between us. I think we all need that stability and conviction when our world is shaky on the outside: someone at home who is strong.

“Love someone when you don’t want to” – what a great phrase.  It is similar to what my yoga teacher said in class today:

“Find your edge and hold the pose.”

We often avoid going to the edge (because it is uncomfortable, because it hurts), we just want to do things we enjoy/good at, but the edge is where growth is to be found. You and your relationship don’t grow if you remain in your comfort zone only or if you fall out at the first hint of challenge. And like it or not, we need to grow. 

For me, the biggest physical challenge in yoga are the stretching poses that everyone finds effortless. But I struggle, because of my tight hamstrings. I have to force myself to work patiently with my tight hamstrings, which means going deeper and staying in the pose. I absolutely hate sitting in a stuffy room stretching my hamstrings, the clock on the wall ticking slowly, but I have no choice but to do it, in order to grow. That’s what living is all about.

Photo: receiving my certificate for completing my 90-day challenge – going for yoga for 90 consecutive days!

What makes growth “easier” is if we believe the reason for our growth and if we have the support behind us. And we all need support from our loved ones, even Prime Ministers. I couldn’t go back to work doing a demanding job after over 14 years absence at 50 years old, if I didn’t have my partner.

I know he’s always there. Not only for the heroic stuff but the small little upsets in my life. And that counts for a lot, because life does wear you down.

I hurt my right knee recently and have been going for physiotherapy twice a week. I work diligently to make it better, though it still hurts whenever I walk for some distance. And here’s the thing: when I was at yoga recently, I found that balancing poses involving my LEFT knee had become wobbly.  This is because my left knee is tired from all the work it does supporting the injured right knee.

In the weeks and months to come, I know I will be relying on my partner as I get used to being back in a high-pressured work environment. I am ever-so- grateful, truly, though I have been a bit grouchy. So here’s a note to myself (and others like me) to thank our proverbial left knees. They’re so important to make sure you walk OK ❤ 

Main photo: Dreamstime, public domain