I’m lying there in the VacoPED, asleep – or dreaming? I’m not sure anymore.

I’m walking with crutches, something’s stuck to my leg. I try to shake it off. Suddenly: this tingling. Then a stabbing pain – right in that same spot again.

It feels hellish.

I snap my eyes open.

Fuck. A dream.

My girlfriend looks at me: “You okay?”

The tear wasn’t real. But the pain – that’s real.

“Can you bring me an Ibu?”

“Sure,” she says. And brings me one.

A moment full of gratitude. And at the same time: inward emptiness.

I seriously ask myself:

How can my body produce such pain – just from thoughts?

I’m lying in the VacoPED, tightly secured. Nothing’s tearing. Supposedly.

But my head tells me otherwise.

And this is exactly where the reflection begins:

Am I overthinking this?

Am I just being a pussy?

Normally, today – with this weather – I’d be 300 to 400 km out on the motorcycle.

Or hiking somewhere in the middle of nowhere.

And now?

Bathroom. Kitchen. Couch. Bed. Repeat.

I’m losing my mind.

And honestly?

I don’t know if I’ll even publish this post.

But one thing’s for sure:

I feel like absolute shit right now. And sure, there are far worse things.

There’s the objective view – yes, I know others have it worse.

But then there’s this subjective feeling that throws you into a hole where you just don’t see any light at the end of the tunnel.