I have soooo fallen back with my writing and the challenges I undertook. But what I have been doing is getting a little bit more active and stepping out of the house more frequently. However each time I step out I come back thoroughly exhausted and sometimes in more pain than before having gone out for the day. Even so I'm just happy for getting a little bit more back to me.
On my last post I mentioned that I was planning to treat myself to something cool. Well I didn't report it on time because I changed my mind for a minute when I was told that a new feature would be added within the next week or so. I tried waiting for this to be implemented, but couldn't take it and decided to go for it anyways.
My indulgence was a 45min session on a flight simulator where I piloted a Boeing 737. This was important to me because as a child from as young as 5 years old, I wanted to be pilot (well actually an astronaut, but I didn't share that desire for fear of ridicule), but was told it would be impossible because of my health. The next best thing for me was to become an air traffic controller, but was told that was also an impossibility. Years later, I became an computer trainer, then eventually an author. A far cry from my original dream, right?
On one of my errand runs, I came across a storefront offering flight simulations and though I initially walked straight past, my soul did a double take and next thing I know I was having a chin-wag with a pilot about the possibility of pursuing the path to earning myself a pilot license. During our conversation we discussed how realistic the simulator is to being in a real cockpit, and truth be told, I was already sold, but then the pilot (real pilots work there), shared with me that they would soon be installing a camera so that the session could be recorded as a momento that could be taken home after the experience. So last week I went in to check if the camera had arrived, but even though it hadn't, I couldn't wait any longer, I just wanted to jump on into that seat!
Yesterday I 'flew and landed' on the runways of London Heathrow Airport, Georgia's Hartsfield Airport and Montego Bay. Woooooooo!!!! IT WAS THE BEST FEELING EVER!!! Yes it was expensive, but to me so damn worth it. It was like living a lifelong dream. No don't get me wrong all them switches, buttons and screens were a little overwhelming, but so much fun. Give me a minute to get a little more money together and I will be there again in a heartbeat, because it is amazing just how realistic it all was. As I was descending and approaching Hartsfield, I actually felt my stomach flutter and ears pop and I wasn't even in a real plane, but my brain made it real enough for my body to respond accordingly.
I'm saying people, no matter what it is you've always wanted to do and was told you couldn't, even if it is due to ill health, financial circumstance, the first thing you can do to make it happen is acknowledge the widening horizon of opportunities around you. Yesterday I didn't fly a real plane, but I set something in motion for myself and most importantly I let go of a regret and proved to myself that actually my becoming a pilot isn't impossible. I might not find myself becoming a commercial pilot, but the health restrictions on a private license aren't as demanding and may indeed allow me to seriously pursue that dream.
Wednesday 17 February 2010
Tuesday 2 February 2010
Yaawwwwn!
Wow, I am off to a ridiculously late start today after my sleepless night. I don't know what the hell happened, but after falling asleep at around 9pm and waking up an hour or so later, that was it for me. I guess I really am back to me huh? My mind raced constantly with all the things I planned to do today and the rest of this week that I could barely keep still. In such a situation I grab my notebook and start one of my infamous lists, but this time I really tried to keep my head on the pillow and not start zipping around the house as I usually would. I even tried watching some anime from my laptop... technically I wouldn't have to take my head off the pillow for that. I was no good, before I knew it I was downloading some image merging software and watermarking pictures I had been meaning to do ages ago. Then I sent off a couple of emails, did some ab crunches, more skipping, watched a couple more episodes of One Piece, and next thing I know it was 5am. Noooooooo!
Fortunately the day is still young and I have time to catch up on myself, so here I am posting an entry as part of my 500 words for the day, before an excuse arises for me not to be able to submit a lil something. Next stop get a few skipping reps done and get my arse out for a walk.
Ooh and this week I'm going to treat myself to something super cool! I'm not going to speak of it now, but I will write about it before the week's end. There, I've said it, now I gotta do it. I will finish my 500 words in my Facebook as a part of another writing challenge I accepted yesterday (post a note everyday of February). Have a good one peaceples!
Fortunately the day is still young and I have time to catch up on myself, so here I am posting an entry as part of my 500 words for the day, before an excuse arises for me not to be able to submit a lil something. Next stop get a few skipping reps done and get my arse out for a walk.
Ooh and this week I'm going to treat myself to something super cool! I'm not going to speak of it now, but I will write about it before the week's end. There, I've said it, now I gotta do it. I will finish my 500 words in my Facebook as a part of another writing challenge I accepted yesterday (post a note everyday of February). Have a good one peaceples!
Monday 1 February 2010
Brighter Side of Life
Its a Monday, usually a drag for some, but today has been the best I have felt for some time. I'm in such a wonderful mood its almost silly. Its not that anything special has happened per se, but I feel so hopeful and as a result, I'm smiling from within.
I used to take a meditation walk first thing every morning and it was such a wonderful start to the day, but due to the downturn of my health I slowly ceased to get out there. I have been wanting to get back to it for sometime, but with all the crazy dizzy spells and the gasping for breath just to get down the stairs in my house, I was yet to venture out again on a regular basis. Anyways, I had decided that this year was going to be different from '09. I mean, don't get me wrong, last year was totally amazing for me in terms of personal achievements, but health wise, I was a mess with a total of four stays in hospital for sickle cell crisis so severe, I simply couldn't manage them at home on my own.
Off to a late start, I was still determined to slowly build myself up and out of the house, better yet, get back to the point where I was before; wearing weights everywhere I went, even after my meditation walk and a session of skipping. First of all though, I needed to be able to get up and down them damn stairs without hyperventilating and aching all over. Well, I semi-started last week, with the walking I mean, and pushing past the pain and dizziness, I felt very good for it. Though by the time I got home, I was good for nothing and would have to take a nap. Even so, I made an effort to go up and down the stairs at least five times a day.
Yesterday I decided to try out my jump rope again. I didn't have any high expectations and only aimed for a count of 15, but my hope was to do repetitions of the same amount a few times a day. I only managed to do two sets, but again I felt good. Today is a new day and with it came a new zeal. I wanted to do better and so far I have. Thus far I have raised my count to 40, I've done 5 reps AND gone out for a long walk, climbed stairs! No significant pain, in fact I'm eager to do more. Finally, I am getting back to ME!
If that ain't something to be happy about I'll take it a step further. I was doing some research about something I have been craving a lot of as of late, just to make sure too much of it wasn't bad for me and, it turns out that it naturally inhibits pain, hmmm. So I've been putting it to the test and so far, I have no complaints, in fact I'm in awe (I will be doing a radio show about it soon enough), but that's not what I was getting at. On one of the pages I sought information from, there was a link to a 1000 word a day challenge for writers. Just what I needed right now! So I followed it and for those who feel they may fall short of 1000, there is the 500 or 250 option. NaNoWriMo was a wonderful incentive for me to write and though I didn't complete the challenge (50,000 words in 30 days), I achieved so much! Some of my best writing was born out of it (even though I lost it all), but I'm so pumped. I'm not going to overwhelm myself, I'm going to go for the 500 option and maybe later try for 1000. So I am committing myself to writing toward my novel everyday, and if I'm not in the mood for it, you'll find the contribution for said day here.
I used to take a meditation walk first thing every morning and it was such a wonderful start to the day, but due to the downturn of my health I slowly ceased to get out there. I have been wanting to get back to it for sometime, but with all the crazy dizzy spells and the gasping for breath just to get down the stairs in my house, I was yet to venture out again on a regular basis. Anyways, I had decided that this year was going to be different from '09. I mean, don't get me wrong, last year was totally amazing for me in terms of personal achievements, but health wise, I was a mess with a total of four stays in hospital for sickle cell crisis so severe, I simply couldn't manage them at home on my own.
Off to a late start, I was still determined to slowly build myself up and out of the house, better yet, get back to the point where I was before; wearing weights everywhere I went, even after my meditation walk and a session of skipping. First of all though, I needed to be able to get up and down them damn stairs without hyperventilating and aching all over. Well, I semi-started last week, with the walking I mean, and pushing past the pain and dizziness, I felt very good for it. Though by the time I got home, I was good for nothing and would have to take a nap. Even so, I made an effort to go up and down the stairs at least five times a day.
Yesterday I decided to try out my jump rope again. I didn't have any high expectations and only aimed for a count of 15, but my hope was to do repetitions of the same amount a few times a day. I only managed to do two sets, but again I felt good. Today is a new day and with it came a new zeal. I wanted to do better and so far I have. Thus far I have raised my count to 40, I've done 5 reps AND gone out for a long walk, climbed stairs! No significant pain, in fact I'm eager to do more. Finally, I am getting back to ME!
If that ain't something to be happy about I'll take it a step further. I was doing some research about something I have been craving a lot of as of late, just to make sure too much of it wasn't bad for me and, it turns out that it naturally inhibits pain, hmmm. So I've been putting it to the test and so far, I have no complaints, in fact I'm in awe (I will be doing a radio show about it soon enough), but that's not what I was getting at. On one of the pages I sought information from, there was a link to a 1000 word a day challenge for writers. Just what I needed right now! So I followed it and for those who feel they may fall short of 1000, there is the 500 or 250 option. NaNoWriMo was a wonderful incentive for me to write and though I didn't complete the challenge (50,000 words in 30 days), I achieved so much! Some of my best writing was born out of it (even though I lost it all), but I'm so pumped. I'm not going to overwhelm myself, I'm going to go for the 500 option and maybe later try for 1000. So I am committing myself to writing toward my novel everyday, and if I'm not in the mood for it, you'll find the contribution for said day here.
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