It was the day before senior pictures at my high school. I was the pitcher for my fast-pitch softball team, and I was on the mound when a ball was hit and took a funny bounce, hitting me right in the lip. Within minutes, my lip had swelled to huge proportions. My first thought was, "There goes my senior pictures." They did senior pictures different then. The photographer came to the school and took pictures of everyone all afternoon.

As you can imagine, I was upset. My father was my coach. He took one look at me and said, "You are just as beautiful as ever, even with a fat lip." He proceeded to encourage me all the way home that it would be better tomorrow and that I should just let them take my picture because it showed that I was involved in life and enjoying the journey.

Being 17 years old and not so happy with that response, I fretted for most of the next 24 hours, until picture time came. I remember thinking, "No one wants to remember that part of the journey."

Forever, I will have senior pictures with a big fat lip. Of course, my dad thought it made me look like I participated in life, and he said he was ever so proud of me for the way I worked the pitcher's mound.

John Wooden is a legendary basketball coach and a man still known for his famous quotes. One quote I love is where he said, "It's the journey that's better than the end."

Wooden was known for his philosophy of focusing on the things he could control and leaving the rest alone. He realized sometimes things go your way and other times they don't. He worked his players hard in practice and made sure they were prepared for their games.

But he was a realist and prepared his kids for the other part of their life. He recognized that sometimes you could play your best game and lose. Sometimes you could work really hard and have no money to show for it. Sometimes you could try to build a business and another bigger one could run you over. And sometimes a ball takes a bounce and you get a fat lip.

Whatever the case, rather than cling to the outside appearance of things, he believed we should focus on the fun of the journey and play our best game from the inside out. Only we know our motives and the heart of the matter, and that is all that counts.

As physical therapists, we are in the crazy business of rehabilitation. We are in the thick of the journey every day. Our patients are definitely on a journey and at times, it's not a pretty one. In fact, sometimes they don't like it too much and they want to quit. They get discouraged and can't seem to see the end of the tunnel.

We get it! We see your struggle and your fight. We wish we could make it better and all right, but all we can do it stand by you in the fight and cheer you on. And so, that is what we will do. We will encourage you, we will keep you focused, we will test and re-test until you get it right. And we will tell you that one day, you will be on the other side of this and you won't even remember the fat lip.

Because in this journey, you will develop something inside yourself that is far deeper than just what is on the surface. You will know that you have participated in life, that you survived and you won. And you will know that what is on the inside is what really matters, not those silly pictures.

Sheree DiBiase, PT, and her staff can be reached at Lake City Physical Therapy (208) 667-1988 and in her Spokane Valley office (509) 891-2623. She is ever so thankful in life for retakes, re-dos and second chances.