INNcredible - Can a broken leg be a lucky break?

“Break a leg” is what they say in the theatre to wish somebody good luck. Can it actually be a lucky thing?

I am like a bear waking up from hibernation (if a bear wore a pink feather boa.) I’ve been INNside since February 28 thanks to my broken leg. 

I traded my ball gown for a nightgown when I slipped on the Vermont winter ice. My plans to spend March and April in Paris shattered with my tibia and fibula. 

For the past four years, I’ve spent springtime in Paris, literally singing and dancing by the landmarks.

I created The INNcredible Paris Workout to encourage middle age women to spread their wings, leap into their Midlife Renaissance and metaphorically and literally kick up their heels.

Now my heel is propped up on pillows. I can’t even walk! INNstead of spreading my wings, I’ve cocooned for two months. The universe literally stopped me in my tracks and took away my red dancing shoes.

Instead of gallivanting to chateaux with my wonderful French boyfriend and renting my own Paris apartment,

I had no choice but to move into a ground floor guestroom and live with my 87 year old father! It was like Jean-Paul Sartre’s book No Exit, because I could not leave.

There was literally nobody else to care for me and my dog while I’ve been INNcapacitated. 

My family owns a Vermont country inn which is where I became INNcredible. When I leapt into my Midlife Renaissance, it was The Wilburton Inn that caught me. (That’s why every word in my INNcredible writing has two Ns!)

My dad runs the inn with me and my siblings. He had always been my best friend. But during the pandemic, we had such a business disagreement, that our relationship ruptured. It shattered like my tibia and fibula. I was devastated, but after years of trying, I gave up believing that our relationship could heal.

But when you’re INNcredible, you don’t just turn lemons into lemonade, you turn them into citron presse! INNstead of futile fighting with my father in Vermont, I pivoted and went to France,

This was honestly my “Plan B,” but come on — spending four months a year with my romantic French boyfriend and being a writer in Paris is no “Plan B” - it is a “Plan A Plus!” The Eiffel Tower even looks like a glittering giant letter A to remind me.

Then this February, I slipped on the ice! Everything changed in an INNstant. I could not fly to France. I could not run away. I couldn’t drive. I could not even walk! My house has way too many stairs. There was absolutely nothing to do but move in with my father! Suddenly my adversary would be my protector. How would I make it through?

The only way to survive being trapped with my father was to put my INNcredible philosophy to work. I had been singing and dancing, crusading though Paris that women can choose to feel INNcredible no matter what. Could I feel INNcredible trapped with my dad and a broken leg? “Physician cure thyself!”

I have spent March and April practicing what I preach, living my philosophy of joy. INNcredible is an acronym and every letter represents a recipe in my “cookbook of joie de vivre.” The INNcredible Paris Workout is an INNteractive philosophy, winding through a treasure map of 100 landmarks of Paris. It’s like the yellow brick road, but instead of Emerald City, it leads to la vie en rose.

The City of Lights helps us shine our INNer light and cultivate confidence and courage. Joy is a muscle that we can sculpt. I am ripped as Rocky Balboa, because when life gets rocky — I throw on my boa! Like the Eiffel Tower, we are a “Dame de Fer” an Iron Lady.

It takes strength to live with delight. We don’t blindly or naively wear rose colored glasses. We chose to interpret what happens to us in a way that empowers us. If you have the strength to smell the roses, you can always have a ball.

I conceived The INNcredible Paris Workout with 30 original songs and dances to help women get INNbodied and INNvigorated. I adapted them and danced in a chair. Even in a cast, I was shocked, but I could still kick up my heels!

I have been like a starfish regenerating my leg. The INNcredible Paris Workout helped me do it. I cultivated my garden, pruning way back, and focussed all my energy on healing. I used creativity to express my thoughts. I connected to visitors and leaned in. No matter what, I held fast to my identity as a Catalyst of Joy. And to my surprise — I enjoyed every minute!

At my eight week check up, my doctor examined my xray and declared my bones were aligned. Oh! Was he surprised, not only that I was wearing a feather boa in his office, but that I INNstantly burst into song. Little did he realize, Aligned is a song in the INNcredible Paris Workout. When you’re aligned, you make your life a masterpiece more precious than the treasures at the Louvre!

R in INNcredible is for “Release and Receive.” It takes strength to do. I held fast to my story of how I was right and wronged by my father for years. But watching him nurse me with so much care and consistency over these months, I let the anger release.

At this time in his life when I should be caring for him, it was my father taking care of me. He fluffed my pillows and made my bed. He brought me three homemade meals a day. He filled the refrigerator with a bountiful cornucopia of healthy foods. He filled my room with roses. I began to look forward to our.morning chats when he brought me coffee and sat near my bed. We shared our dreams, our plans for the day. We talked about the books we are writing.

I released Paris. I released being able to walk away. I released my anger. And in return I received far more than Paris could ever offer. I received my father’s love. It is utterly INNcredible but our relationship has healed!

Now THAT calls for singing and dancing in the streets!

Thus my “slip up” was hardly my “downfall.” My broken leg was my “lucky break.” Who would have guessed living with my father really has been a ball?!

Now the birds are singing, the flowers are INN bloom. Spring is here and I am sprung! I am ready to take baby steps and finally get back on my feet.  

My fairytale ending is more than that my boyfriend is en route from Paris today. It is that I have decided to live with my father - even when I can walk!! Here’s to our ongoing Pajama Party (and INNcluding our friends in the fun.)

If you feel broken or if you seek more joy, join me Memorial Day Weekend. Come to the INNcredible Paris Workout retreat May 23- 26 at The Wilburton Inn in Manchester Vermont.

I will share all the secrets of Paris so that you can feel like a queen and have a life of joie de vivre. No need to go to Paris or break your leg to live la vie en rose!

You are INNcredible. Life is INNcredible. Here is to healing and spring. Thank you for sharing every step of the way!