It was early morning, and I was walking to yoga. Two weeks ago, a huge snowstorm hit Toronto, and since it's my first winter here, everything feels fresh and new. The snow was piled up, covering the streets, and I loved how quiet it made everything feel. But what I didn't know was that under the new snow, there was old, icy snow hiding.
Then it happened—I slipped on a patch of that hidden ice. One second I was walking, the next I was down, smashing into my right rib. It hurt bad. I've got a high bar for pain, though, so I don't usually make a big deal out of it. I brushed myself off and kept going to yoga, even with my side aching.
The pain's still there, nagging me every day since. But here's the thing: it's also made me grateful. Falling like that opened my eyes to something new about winter here. Now I'm more careful, paying attention to each step I take. It could've been so much worse, and I'm thankful it wasn't. This whole thing's been a wake-up call to stay present and watch where I'm going.