Blog 19th July 2018
Hi I’m Andrew
And I’m Larisa, we’re here to continue sharing how we each got over the major life challenges of me going blind and Andrew becoming a paraplegic.
People have told me they are impressed with how I have coped and come through all of this. Often they say, I don’t think I could do it! What do you think about that Larisa?
I believe we don’t know what we can handle or cope with until we have to!
That’s my experience too. I didn’t have a clue how I was going to cope with being paralysed when it happen. I started to realise I that had an expert team around me to support me in learning how to cope.
So was it all a piece of cake after that?
NO! It was like an unfolding nightmare! I’d get used to one aspect and then I’d be told another part of the horror story. Your bowel and bladder and captain happy don’t really work anymore! You will not be able to feel anything below the waist but you can still damage yourself, you just won’t know it and that can be really bad. Oh and that burning pain and electric shocks in your legs! That’s just how it is now!
So how did you move through all that?
I learnt that focusing on a positive was a lot more useful than dwelling on the negative. Sometimes the positive was more a little bit of hope. The more I followed the bits of hope the more I learnt that I could still do a lot. The more I learnt the easier life got. Just like you when you learn and practice what you need to.
So it was a choice? Like the one I made to get on with my life after I went blind!
Yes I believe it is. Just like so many other choices we have to make. Not all choices are easy.
That’s the same strength and tenacity I saw in you the first time we met. The same qualities that had got me over many challenges.
So what is challenging you and what are YOU going to do about it?
That’s food for thought. See ya next week.