I've learnt now to take new things on board, I've learnt new skills and abilities and I challenge my pain in a very positive way. Pain has ups and downs, you have good and bad days, and I know that my injuries are gradually catching up with me, but you, so you fight to keep it at bay as long as possible and we have a lovely thing in our household, it's called a 'sod it day'.
And people say “Well that's terrible, you can't have things like that” and we say “Well we do, because what a sod it day is all about is that you are going to do something that you know you're going to pay for, for the next few days, it's going to hurt, sometimes it hurts quite a lot, but you really enjoy yourself and you think well sod-it” and then that's all right then but then, in the future, when you're down you can look back at what you've done and it boosts you up again.
And that's really important. I went micro-lighting. And what I didn't realise was that the engine in the aircraft is behind you. Well, if you've got a broken back, to have an engine vibrating up your spine is not a good idea and I was in bed for about ten days afterwards and it really knocked me out. And yet, a few years on now, I look at the photographs of that day when I'm, you know, I'm having a bad day and I think “I did that” and it's a lovely feeling and I'll always encourage people to sort of challenge their pain in that way, because there are lots of things you can do. |
