The Wait

The sniper lay flat, next to the tall oak tree. 

He was practically buried in shrubs. 

His face adorned with thick camouflage paint. 

If I told you he was there, you still may not spot him.

His back ached. His neck ached. He took a deep breath, and let his muscles relax.

He took a few more deep breaths.

He felt better. His eyes never left his arc of fire. He couldn't. He was trained to wait.

The wait was the worse part of a sniper's job. 

From the recce, the setup, the concealment, the wait, the shot, the exit. The wait was the worst.

You never know when the target is coming. 

And you only have a small window, sometimes as short as five seconds, to take the shot.

What was that?

A movement in the distance? A mirage? Just a wild animal?

The sniper leaned into his scope, his trigger finger instinctively slipping into position. 

His breathing slowed. 

His whole body slipped into a paradoxical state of relaxation but intense focus. 

He waited. Seconds passed. Then minutes. There was no further movement.

The sniper had been waiting for hours now. 

It felt more like days. 

It would be better if something was happening, but it was quiet. It was desolate. 

His thoughts floated to his family, to his friends. To his hobbies. 

But he had to snap back to focus. Can't miss the opportunity now. 

Sometimes bugs would crawl around. Sometimes big ones. 

But he could not move. He could be spotted. Someone could be watching.

He waited. Together with the sound of the wind, the dance of the sun, the hum of the trees.

The wait was the worst. 

He suddenly felt a strange feeling. His ears told him something that his eyes couldn't.

It was not what he heard, but what he stopped hearing.

The bird chirping in the distance had went silent. 

His master eye went back behind the scope, and he prepared for a shot again. 

His breath slowed tremendously, he braced the butt of the rifle and gripped the trigger. 

'Come on', he thought, beads of perspiration trickling down the side of his face.

His crosshair trained on the edge of his arc of fire. 

The target appeared.

My second visit to Orchard Health Clinic

Today I returned for my second consultation at Orchard Health Clinic. My initial consultation/review can be found here.

I experienced some soreness/pain again after my chest workout at the gym last week, so I shared that with my Osteopath, Lewis. He asked a series of questions again before beginning on my physical therapy.

Once again, he manipulated and twisted my joints in really scary ways. It really feels scary because of the angles he distorts and turns them while pressing down hard sometimes, but I never experienced any pain because of that! It doesn't seem possible and I felt like I should be squirming in pain all the way but he somehow was very skillful and I never felt any real pain.

He did some deep massages again, and helped cracked some joints (he's a very good neck cracker!! haha). I felt he focused abit more on my wrist today, really kneading and twisting and turning at all possible angles to stretch and feel out the entire joint. For some reason there was no pain while he did this, even though just before I entered the clinic I felt pain opening a toilet door.


Then he told me he wanted to apply some tape to me today, and asked me if it was ok. I realised later that this was because it cost $15 just for the tape :o

Looks kinda cool

After our 30 min session, as I was waiting for payment and discussing with the counter staff when my next visit should be, Martin (the founder of the clinic!) overheard our conversation and came over to give some of his own advice... which somehow turned into an impromptu consultation as well lol.

He did similar physical checks as Lewis - turned my wrist this way and that and pressed in similar ways. And reassuringly - he gave the same diagnoses as Lewis - that my left shoulder/traps were a little higher than normal, my rotation/flexibility of my left wrist wasn't as good as my left, etc. Reassuring because there's interrater reliability! So it should really be accurate haha. These osteopaths are really good at detecting asymmetry.

Anyway that session cost $120 + $15 = $135 :(( This is quite expensive. 

Lewis recommended I stop pressing exercises entirely, and work on pulling exercises and see how my wrist takes it. Let's see if the pain goes away...

The Kiwi Who Flew

There was a Kiwi, he lived on a tree,

He sang and he chirped, but unhappy was he.

He longed to fly, soar over the skies,

But he was afraid, "I'll get hurt!" he cries.

 

A pigeon flew in, cooing and fussing,

'Come on little Kiwi, come chase your dream!'

But the Kiwi said "No, I am comfortable here,

Being lost out there, is what I fear!"

 

Next a crow swooped over, and shot him a glance,

'Just flap your wings, and you'll be airborne at once!'

But the Kiwi said "No, I don't have the strength,

My wings will fail, they don't have the length!"

Then came a sparrow, lightly flitting by,

'My wings are short too, you just have to try!'

The Kiwi said "Fine!" And jumped off with trust,

And into the sky, he was airborne at last!

 

But he didn't go far,

He dipped,

He dropped,

He crashed.

 

There was a Kiwi, he lived on a tree,

He sang and he chirped, happy was he.

'Aren't you hurt?' a concerned bird cried,

"Yes", he beamed. "But at least I tried!"

 

---

 

Be like the Kiwi - pursue your dreams. Don't be afraid of getting lost, don't be afraid of not being capable. You just have to try. I pursued my dream of working in the gaming industry, and while I've found that it's not suitable for me, at least I've tried. Have you?