Chasing my Dreams!

OPPORTUNITIES often turn up just at the perfect time….and its up to us to be aware of these opportunities around us when they appear….to grasp it and see where it takes us – you may just be surprised what unfolds once you open that door of opportunity – I know I was, when this particular ‘tick off the list’ unfolded!

After a sad start to the last week of October 2014, with the very sudden passing of someone in my life – I ended the week on a more positive note – with a spur of the moment, impulse, amazing tick off the bucketlist! I went for a swim in the ocean (in a flat area, no waves) – standing up with assistance with my helpers by my side…but also taking moments to let go of their hands when I felt steady enough, and standing up in the ocean with the water swishing around me – just like an ablebodied person would be able to experience.  Absolute, pure freedom! (even if it was just for a couple of seconds every time I let go of their hands, it was still amazing to experience!)

A swim in the waters off the Island that holds a piece of my heart….SO healing

This person I mentioned earlier who passed away was running along the beach (not this same beach) when he suddenly collapsed and lost his life – after his death I was actually feeling very angry at the beach.  Of course, the beach did nothing wrong, but to me at that time in my grief it was as if ‘the beach had taken him away from us’ because that is where he passed away – even though in reality it wasn’t the beach’s fault.  The poor beach, with me being angry at it..I love the beach! 🙂 Going for my ‘standup swim’ in the ocean a few days after this mans death was so (surprisingly!) healing, it brought me so much peace, it happened at the perfect time, and place, that I needed to experience it right then….and I came out of the water smiling on the inside because of it! The bonus? I was no longer angry at the beach…the swim had healed this, inside of me.   THAT right there is what life is all about..making things happen, to enrich your life in special ways!

Normally a ‘swim in the ocean’ for me means getting the beach wheelchair to the edge of the ocean, getting out of the chair and just sitting in the shallows, letting the small waves wash over me…while that is lovely, having the sea water wash over my body, I had always wanted to experience walking out into, and standing up out in the ocean, like I watch others do all the time.  Now I know what it feels like – it is pure bliss!  It may have been a lot of hard work to walk out, and then back in from the water….and I may have only let go of my helpers hand for a brief few seconds at a time…but I simply cannot describe the feelings that came over me in those moments.  I was standing, in the ocean, with nothing but the water around me…no wheelchair, no crutches, no hanging onto someone else for my balance (well yes, I was hanging onto my helpers – but for those brief few seconds, I wasn’t – I was standing out there just like an ablebodied person….I was, briefly, free!)

I swear I was a mermaid in a previous life haha, the ocean really does feel like a ‘part of me’…and that is also what made this experience so special! 🙂

Thank you so much to staff at Tangalooma Island Resort, Moreton Island, Qld, for taking the time and making this happen for me even though it wasn’t part of your ‘scheduled activities’ on the Island, it was very much appreciated. Tangalooma staff rock…they are always there to help those of us with disabilities make it happen, with any of the activities we wish to do on the Island, and go out of their way to make sure we have a good time when doing so! 🙂

Anything is Possible…When you experience true freedom, even for a moment!