I have finally figured out how to copy and paste from my email.Thank you for all that offered me help. Here are some words I wrote on the evening of my 3 year stroke anniversary last week. Please enjoy.
Alice
Life can change in an instant..
None of us can really prepare ourselves for tragic accidents, all we can do is keep on pushing forward. Anniversaries can bring up old deep memories but three years on after the accident that left me partially paralysed, Iām reflective of my journey and reminded that our health truly is wealth.
We tend not to always share our lows but I have struggled a lot these past few years, being dealt so much loss and change. Acepting this ānew meā and learning to live with a disability hasnāt been easy.
We can take so much for granted in life and as Iāve been forced to really slow down, Itās taught me to see things in a different way.
My gratitude list is easy to write, as it really is all the little things we must be grateful for, fresh air on a walk, warm sunshine on our skin, healthy nourishing food,the smell of salt air, a sunrise or sunset, music to enjoy, dirt under your nails from the garden. Because from a hospital bed you canāt enjoy any of these things.
Iām so grateful to those who have been by my side, helping me along the way, for my therapists-thereās been so many!
But especially for my beautiful family and my friends that have been by my side unconditionally, who give me the help I now need and check in on me from time to time. You are all sunshine
We take our lives for granted when we are well and have our mobility, it is only when something happens to change that, we realise how easily it can be lost.
Having a life changing event from an accident or as a result of disease can be so hard to deal with. The effects are like ripples on a pond when someone throws a stone in, it starts with the person effected and then ripples out to those who help us get better, the people who support us, our friends, employers and many more.
Nothing can truly prepare you for these events and no 2 events are the same anyway. All you can do is pick up the pieces afterwards and place them back into the jigsaw puzzle that is life. Sometimes all the pieces go back in, if a little ragged around the edges and sometimes the pieces are missing completely. Sometimes we can no longer recognise the picture and have to create a new one.
I try to remember there are no guarantees in life and it is ever changing. I have been through many trials and traumas and one thing I have learned is everything passes in time. I am grateful to all the family, friends, professionals and complete strangers who have helped me to both navigate and get through all of lifeās challenges.
There have been times when I wished I no longer existed and the suffering would stop, but then I remind myself of all the beautiful things I have experienced in my life, nature, music, art, the love of others, my dogs. The list goes on and it reminds me I have far more to live for.
Hi Alice - well done for learning a new skill and for sharing the lovely words as you reflected on the third anniversary of your stroke.
Life can indeed change in an instant.
I think that sums up how a lot of us feel after our strokes. Thank you for sharing such lovely words. Life can indeed change in an instant and itās not until something like that happens that we realized just how much we take everything for granted.
Thank you for sharing this, inspirational and uplifting doesnāt cover this or do it justice. The sentiments ring true on so many levels Iām 1 week away from my 1st anniversary and about to return to work on it as well, but I feel stronger, better and have a more enriched life with a greater appreciation of it too.
Like all survivors we find a way to get over this, find new ways to live but keep on being strong.
@AliceP That was beautiful to read and very uplifting. Thank you for sharing. I was also grateful for life, but being a stroke survivor, it made me see life through completely different eyes. I wish you well for the future.
To all who have kindly replied to my words I shared.
Thank you so much,
It is so touching to have you all write such suppoting and heartfelt comments.
Even though we are all strangers on here, we are connected through our link of being stroke survivors and this is another thing to add to my daily gratitude list.
I love a good challenge, even when I was working Iād leave a task/job to last minute just for the challenge. I was starting to do voluntary work when my stroke struck, giving me the biggest challenge of my life, doing a sky dive seems like small potoes by comparison now.
But, it has certainly satisfied my need for a good challengeš And thatās how I see my stroke recovery, a whole series of challenges to be overcomeā¦.much like in a challenging computer gameš For me, it stops life from becoming too mundane or boring.
When I get up in the morning I wonder, what can I break today I could break a cup and cry about my clumsy self and curse this stroke or I could break my personal best. My stroke keeps me going, it keeps me busy when everyone else is busy. Itās got me out of the house and meeting new people. And they are fascinating people to be around. Who needs old friends when there are so many new ones out there to be discovered. And the beauty about them is that they are far more accepting of the new you, because they never knew the old version.
I do still have my old friends who have been so supportive over the years. Theyāre just still in a certain amount of denial; theyāve just not quite come to terms with the new me yetš so I have to make a few allowances for themš
One day we will all be on the same page againā:wink: I just donāt hang around too long for them to catch up ācos life is meant for living not waiting for something better to come along
Lovely words, and much to be grateful for.
I could break a cup and cry about my clumsy self and curse this stroke or I could break my personal best. My stroke keeps me going, it keeps me busy when everyone else is busy. Itās got me out of the house and meeting new people. And they are fascinating people to be around. Who needs old friends when there are so many new ones out there to be discovered. And the beauty about them is that they are far more accepting of the new you, because they never knew the old version.