Ep.173: When Life Interrupts Your Routine (Now What?)

There are moments in life when everything feels like it’s finally working… and then suddenly, something interrupts it all.

That’s exactly what happened to me this week.

In this episode, I’m sharing what it looks like to navigate an unexpected setback—when your routine gets disrupted, your momentum is gone, and you feel completely thrown off.

I talk about:

•  Why it’s not just about the situation—it’s about what it represents (structure, identity, control) 
•  The all-or-nothing thinking that can quietly derail us 
•  How I’m shifting from “everything is ruined” to “what’s still possible” 
•  Why the goal isn’t to stop… it’s to adjust 

If you’ve ever felt like one interruption knocked you completely off track, this episode is for you.

Because not everything that slows you down is setting you back.

You’re not starting over—you’re just finding a new way forward.

Maybe… you can 💛

Transcript

When Life Interrupts Your Plans

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Hello and welcome back to the Maybe I Can Podcast. I'm your host, Debbie Weiss, and thank you so much for joining me today. So let me ask you a question. Has there ever been a time in your life when everything seems to be running along smoothly? And bam, out of the blue, something very unexpected happens and disrupts everything. Now, I know you're sitting there saying yes, or you're shaking your head, yes, of course, because it happens to all of us. That's life. Well, this week I got some news from my doctor that I really didn't want to hear. And let me say, everything's fine. I don't have any terrible diagnosis. Like it makes me feel guilty almost saying this. But I shouldn't because for me, this is a big deal. So I've been having some pain in my neck, pins and needles that travel to my shoulder blade. And then a few weeks ago, the pins and needles started traveling down my left arm into my thumb and another couple of fingers. And I know from personal experience that is nerve pain. And so I did see a correlation with exercising. And it doesn't necessarily start to bother me while I'm doing it, but then afterwards, those pins and needles are kicking in. And when it started to travel down to my hand, I knew that I had to investigate. I've been down this road before, not with my hand or my neck, but with my back many years ago in 1999, I had a spinal fusion that came out of nowhere when back at that time I was, I don't know, in my mid-30s, and it made no sense. I was playing tennis four times a week. I was playing golf once or twice a week. And for two years, this pain slowly became crippling. And it turns out that there was something wrong with my spine that evidently I was born with, and that required a fusion, and it disrupted my entire life. As a matter of fact, it really disrupted my entire life because even though I've tried a couple of times to get back into playing tennis, I've never been able to. And I don't mean that I've never, I physically can't. It just doesn't work the same, and then I needed hip replacements and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. So this feels a little similar, which kind of makes me nervous. So I was in a total groove with my exercise, really happy with it, and actually thinking about taking it to the next level. And so I started doing a third program in addition to the other two that I was doing. One is functional fitness training for women over 40, three mornings a week for 45 minutes. The other was Zumba. And honestly, I was really only doing Zumba once a week. So it really wasn't much. It's four days a week. And I added this other thing two days a week. And it felt like it was a lifting weight kind of thing. And I think that honestly, that's what tipped me over the edge. So I go to see a doctor that I haven't seen in years because knock on wood, everything's been good with my back and my hips and all the things, and I've been able to do what I want. Like I said, other than playing tennis, but I've accepted that. And this happens. So I had an MRI, and it turns out that at multiple levels in my neck, I have uh narrowing and nerve impingement. And so now we're going down that whole road that I've been down before back in the 90s. And if any of you have ever had any kind of, oh yeah I can't think of the word, but any kind of physical, like structural thing like this, you know, first you have to do physical therapy, then maybe you do an epidural injection, and then you move on from there. And in the meantime, I know that I can't do anything with weights and I can't lift my arms over my head. And when I came home, or actually before I got the MRI results, I took a walk. A walk. And I'm thinking to myself, okay, well, at least I will now turn to walking. Well, I walked for, I don't know, 20 minutes, and the pins and needles came again. So I'm shocked. This is out of nowhere. I've now stopped everything. And immediately I felt very frustrated. Very frustrated because I was just getting into the groove. I was gonna, you know, kick things up a notch and bring my exercise to the next level. And bam, not only could I not bring it to the next level, but I can't do anything at all. And if you're an exerciser, you know that it doesn't matter how long you've been exercising. I'm telling you, you walk away for a couple of weeks, it feels like you're starting from scratch all over again. And so I was very frustrated, very disappointed, kind of in shock. And I just feel thrown off. What happened to my routine? And I realized how much I actually rely on my routine and how quickly things just feel off when that gets taken away. And then I thought to myself, is this about exercise? And it is. I'm not going to lie and say that it's not, but it's also about what routine represents in my life. Exercising is something that I've built into my day, into my week, and it gives my day structure. It's something to show up for. I know when I'm going to do it. It kind of anchors my day, especially because they're all in the morning that I'm doing the exercise. So I love how that sets me up and I feel good going into my day, even though doing the exercise or getting out of bed at 5:15 in the morning is a struggle. There's never a time where I regretted getting up early or pushing myself. So when that gets taken away, just that one activity, it's like that castle that I built on that foundation starts to crumble. Besides being taking away my structure, it's also about how I see myself. Because I'm someone who shows up, I'm consistent, I'm trying to take care of myself. And when you can't do those things, that kind of reinforce that identity that you have, it can make you question it. It's like, who am I then? I can't even do this. It's also about momentum, feeling like, oh, I was moving forward, I was consistent, I was building something. I felt like I was on track, I felt good. Those endorphins were flowing through my body, and I was so proud of myself, especially when I would complete this new exercise program. So maybe for three days, three weeks, I was exercising five or six days a week, a variety of things, and I felt so good about it. And then when something interrupts, it can feel like your whole world just stops. Now, if I'm really being honest, it's also about control. The I don't want to say I'm a control freak. I didn't realize that I was until I really started to break down some of my thoughts and my actions. But I was able to control taking care of my body or doing the right things, or feel like I was in control of my life. And then when something like this happens, it reminds you don't actually have control over everything. And that's scary, right? Because when you feel like you're in your lane and you're controlling what you do and how you work, and maybe I don't want to say you're controlling other people. Maybe I'm thinking about myself, I'm controlling their routines. I used to make sure my husband got to a doctor's appointment or my sons got to, you know, whatever practice they had, whatever it was, it I was in control. So this whole thing isn't about my exercise and my injury. It's really about structure and momentum and control. And when one thing shifts, it can feel like a lot more is shifting with it. And this isn't just about me. There are so many things that interrupt us in our lives when everything seems to be going along smoothly. Sometimes, like this, it's your health. It could be an injury, it could unfortunately be a diagnosis. And thankfully, I haven't had that scary diagnosis happen to me personally. But if you've been listening to me, you know that I'm a widow and my husband was diagnosed with terminal blood cancer and lived six months from the time of the diagnosis. And certainly, even though I wasn't the one diagnosed, right, it certainly interrupted my own routine. Maybe you're being told that physically you need to slow down. You've been doing everything right, and then suddenly you can't do what you've been doing. It's so hard. And sometimes it's just something happening in your life, right? Like when my husband got that diagnosis. Maybe your family needs you, maybe somebody in your family is sick, maybe you need to travel somewhere. Every time that I travel and I go away, it could just be on vacation, honestly. It's so much harder to come back and pick up that routine. Maybe something unexpected comes up. Or your plans change, you know, you've been looking forward to something, and then all of a sudden it gets ruined for whatever reason. You had a plan for your next week or your next month, and suddenly that plan does not work anymore. Sometimes a setback or an interruption can be emotional. Like you lose motivation, or something affects your mindset, like you just feel off, you just aren't feeling it. All of a sudden, that positive self-talk that you've developed starts to diminish and deteriorate into something not so positive. And even though nothing might look different on the outside, everything feels different on the inside. Sometimes it could just be a momentum disruption. You could feel like you're finally in a good place and then something interrupts it. I mean, I have to say, I can remember when I first was doing anything, honestly, developing any type of routine. I really consistency was such a big deal. And it would really throw me for a loop if something knocked me off my game. And it could have just knocked me off my game for a day or two. And it's amazing what message that sent to my brain, and how I had the choice to take it one way or the other. And it is hard. Life never waits for a convenient time to interrupt you. It doesn't ask, is this a good week or a good moment? Or if you're finally in a rhythm. And that interruption isn't the hardest part, it's what we make it mean. And this is why I'm doing this episode, because I needed to tell myself and teach myself this moving forward. Because what happens next is where things can either stay small or become bigger. Talk about what can happen. That spiral, that all or nothing thinking. This is where my mind tends to go. I can't exercise. That's it. It's over. Why even pay attention to what I'm eating? Why pay attention to how much water I'm drinking? Like kind of, I want to ditch other good habits just because of this interruption in my exercise routine. I think to myself, oh, well now this ruins everything. Or I'm off track now. So what's the point? You give up entirely. One interruption can turn into a full stop if we let it. That's where my mind goes initially. I don't know about you. Here's the thing. I'm not pretending that I'm fine with it. That's not the answer. I'm really not fine with it. I am disappointed. I am frustrated, and I honestly am concerned. How long is this gonna last? Will PT take care of it? Will I after the injection, will it not work? Will I need surgery? Again, because I've been down this road before. But what am I doing? I'm not living in the present. I'm projecting my fears into the future instead of just living in the moment and figuring out what I need to do today. So what happened is I needed to pause certain things. But the story I was telling myself, everything is ruined. So what do we need to do? I have we have to ask ourselves, what is still available to me? Okay, so I can't go to Zumba and I can't, you know, do my weights or whatever. But what can I still do? And clearly you understand this just doesn't apply to my situation. No matter what it is in your life, I don't care what kind of disruption it is, it could be seismic. Like when my husband got the terminal diagnosis. There was a lot of things I could no longer do. But what I can still do, because there's always something that you can still do. Maybe for me it's a different type of movement. Maybe it is rest or something else. I don't know the answer to that yet. But here's the thing: I am not going to abandon everything. Even though that all or nothing was my first thinking, we have to remind ourselves, don't abandon, adjust. This is usually where we tend to go wrong. We stop everything and we lose momentum instead of figuring out how we can adjust, how we can modify or adapt and just keep going differently. See, the thing is that even though it feels like it, this moment is not permanent. It's not. Now, when I look back, here it is 2026, when I look back 27 years ago to when I had the spinal fusion and the years leading up to it, I thought, I'll never do anything again. I'll never do anything again. And I was wrong. It felt back then that I was, I don't know, that I just gave up. I thought that's it. I'm just going to sit on the couch for the rest of my life. And then looking back now, it was slow going, but I rebuilt and I came back. And then I needed a hip replacement 10 years later, and I came back again, and another two years I needed another hip, and I came back again. And you know what? I will come back this time, and so will you. I don't think everything happens for a reason. I mean, I don't know. That's open for debate. Sometimes I don't. I'll leave that up to you. This is not a philosophical podcast. But I do think we always get to decide how we respond. And I need this lesson because I can't abandon all my positive routines. I just need to adjust. And so right now I'm choosing to work with it instead of fighting with it. This certainly wasn't part of my plan, but it's part of my reality right now. And instead of letting it stop me, I'm figuring out how to move forward with it. What about you? What will you choose to do when life throws an unexpected interruption in your path? Remember, not everything that slows you down is setting you back. Go out there and make it a great week. Thanks for listening, and I'll see you next week.