Focus on Achieving Your Goals
Much of the journey of recovery is mental in addition to the pure hard slog of strength conditioning.
For me to drag out my paddle boards after two years and actually stand on one is massive. It speaks to the power of visualisation: I am determined to get back on the water. It may not be pretty, but I’ll get there of that I have no doubt.
On my journey I am inspired by the progress of incredible people like Derek Fitzgerald, who not only had a heart transplant, bu also cancer. Derek could not lift his head off his pillow for the first month after his transplant and used to crawl across the floor before learning to walk again. He has gone on to complete a number of Iron Man competitions.
I’m realistic. I don’t expect to be back at the level I was at when I was a South African lifesaving champion or played on the wing for Selborne College First Fifteen. However, I can be the best person that I can be to honor the massive sacrifice my donor made.
So far I don’t have any Iron Man competitions in sight, but seven months out of hospital I’ve fully self-published a book (At Thievery End) and have completed the first draft on another one. Booyah! We must celebrate our wins.
It isn’t all smooth paddling. The evening after I took this photo was one of the worst I’ve had this year. I was told by my doctors I could stop a medication and it affected the others, ever so slightly but enough to make me feel miserable.
Please know that I also draw for inspiration on all my interactions with you for which I am grateful.
Stay safe in these turbulent times and I look forward to seeing you on the water somewhere, someday soon.