ATTITUDE – that small thing with a huge impact
Hi everyone. Welcome to the final post in the series birthed out of ‘Be Inspired 2018 conference’.
I met many amazing people and each person had a story worth telling. After listening to Heather Clark, I knew I had to share her story with you.
I first heard her story at the 'Be Inspired 2016 conference', but this year brought the second instalment of her journey which I found just as inspirational.
To help manage her morning sickness, Heather’s mum was prescribed Thalidomide which resulted in her being born with virtually no arms and legs.
Her parents had many choices to make including how to raise her to become all she was destined to be. She grew up knowing no limits and not seeing any difference compared to others.
If there was one word that summarised what I learnt from Heather, it was ATTITUDE.
The first thing that struck me was that she held no animosity towards the doctor that prescribed the medication to her mum. She forgave them. This set her free from carrying around anger and bitterness.
This is closely followed by her positive attitude to life. She is full of excitement and has chosen to live her life to the fullest right from a young age till now.
She has a can-do attitude, one that refused to let anything stop her from achieving her dreams of becoming a successful Television journalist and athlete who has represented Great Britain in the Paralympic Games thrice.
Overcoming adversity
Hi everyone. Last week, I promised to share about some inspirational people. So, meet Steven Robinson, the one-armed pilot. Steven lost his right arm at the age of 18 after a tragic motor-cross accident and this came after enduring bullying throughout
A dose of reality and other lessons
I had this week’s post all figured out but after spending Thursday in the classroom called life, I feel the need to share some of my lessons.
I was looking forward to the International women’s day and the inspirational event organised by Melanie Malcolm of Yorkshire ladies link. I spent some time, the day before, agonising about what I would wear and almost cracked that nut before going to bed.
Thursday morning, I woke up to unexpected and generous amount of snow. I wondered who didn’t get the memo that I had somewhere to be. I hate driving on snow.
My immediate reaction was to moan and crawl back into bed, but before I gave in to that thought, a friend calls to tell me she wanted to go with me.
Shoot! There goes my escape. I now have to brave the snow but at least I would have some company for the journey so it wasn’t so bad or scary.
Before I even stepped out of the door, my first lessons were:
1. The world doesn’t revolve round me, my comfort zone and what I want. Deal with ‘it’. ‘It’ for me that day was the snow.
2. Even the best laid out plans have to change and it’s not a big deal. I had my clothes all planned, but priorities changed. I needed to dress for weather and not for fashion. Go figure!
3. A timely intervention can set us on the right path. Getting a call from my friend and realising that I needed to get us to the event, pushed any fear of driving on snow aside.
4. Life is easier with the right people in it. Knowing I wouldn’t be alone in the car on slippery roads eased my anxiety
At the event, I was amazed at the determination, adaptability and resilience of the organisers and the participants. All their preparation and perfectly laid out plans went out the window. At times like this, we are faced with choices to - give in to the disappointment or push through, give up or go on? Remain in the old mindset or look for new possibilities? I watched the organisers’ tireless efforts to re-arrange programme, make calls and communicate potential changes to the participants whilst remaining positive, courteous and professional. Kudos to the ‘cool, calm and collected’ Yorkshire Ladies Link team. Then came the inspiring speakers, starting with Chris Pointon who lost his amazing wife, Kate Granger, after a battle with cancer. There weren’t many dry eyes in the room as Chris shared their story. Instead of the session being about how unfair life can be, it was about how we can all make a difference.Time to take stock
I have wanted to write this post for a couple of weeks. It’s been 15 posts and three months since I started my blog so I figure it’s time to take stock.
Is it what I thought it would be like?
Has the journey been easy?
Have I been scared, anxious or disappointed?
Am I glad I took this step of faith?
Am I having the impact I hoped for?
These are just some of the questions on my mind as I take stock of the past three months. The calling to start a blog came to me on the 12th of November 2017 and two weeks later, I published my first post. I still remember the feelings of joy and elation as I saw the numbers of views go up. So what have I learnt over the past three months? I have learnt to take risks. I took a risk when I opted to leave my job in the bank, and I took another when I decided to start a blog. It was scary to start with, as I questioned my decisions but in hindsight, I am glad I took both risks.
It’s true that not all risks pay off but your next one just might. If you don’t take a risk, nothing happens but if you do something good might happen.
It’s ok to be disappointed but don’t wallow in the cesspool of disappointment. Some posts have done better than others and on the odd days there are no views at all. I can’t help but be disappointed in those moments but then I remind myself to look at the bigger picture. Quite often the numbers are made up a day later. I have a choice to focus on a part of the journey or to look at the whole. 
One view only sees a challenge or a disappointing moment while the other sees an end goal being accomplished after many ups and downs.
You can be afraid but don’t let fear stop you from moving forward. There are times when I fear if I will run out of topics to write or thoughts to share. If I allow the fear to take root, I reckon it will paralyse me.
So, I remind myself of those who have had a blog for years or novelists who are able to churn out book after book. If they can find something to say, why can’t I? Also if push comes to shove, no one is holding a gun to my head insisting that I keep blogging. If a day comes that I want to wave goodbye to blogging, it’s my choice.
Really, there’s nothing to fear and nothing to be anxious about.