Stepping out of your comfort zone

In my last blog: Adventure 101- Overcoming limiting beliefs I talked about a camping adventure that I was about to go on with a group of my fiancé’s friends. I wasn’t totally sure how everything was going to play out and whether I’d be able to cope with it all. Little did I know that pushing myself out of my comfort zone would do me well. I had an amazing camping experience which I will never forget. Now I know I can do it, so next time I will be able to push myself out of my comfort zone further and with greater ease than before.

My next adventure.. Snowboarding

Snowboarding was quite different to camping, yet I went through a similar thought process as I did in the build up to the camping adventure. “Will I be able to do this”? Lots of thoughts like this came up, and this is normal for everyone. But what do you do with this thought?…
There are people out there who are more adventurous than others, so pushing yourself past your comfort zone may mean a different thing for you than me. I know for me pushing myself past different comfort zones has enabled me to improve more, experience more and over all live more. I’ll admit I have been a bit of an adventure addict my whole life! After nearly losing my life due to the stroke, I was reminded that life is short. Adventures are a must have in order to live your life to its fullest.
Through my teens, before I had my stroke, I loved doing different outdoor activities such as motorbike riding and snowboarding. I was a good snowboarder before my accident. After my stroke I made a trip back to the snow and had snowboarding lessons to regain my confidence. Since that visit I hadn’t gone to the snow for 10 years!
So leading up to this adventure with my fiancé and her friends, the nerves started to creep back in. I knew I could snowboard well, but I booked in for a 4 hour lesson just to help remind me. My instructor couldn’t believe how well I could snowboard as he didn’t know what to expect from a stroke survivor. I did pace myself throughout the 4 hour lesson, with a 20 minute break about half way.

Enjoying stepping out of your comfort zone post stroke.

Enjoying stepping out of your comfort zone, whatever the activity, is about listening to the fears in your mind, but also about pushing yourself past these fears. It’s a delicate balancing act, to know when to push and when to hold back. What I have found in my 17 years recovery journey is that, “getting back to your old self” may be what you want, but it is entirely possible to create a “new you” that you become deeply proud of. Know that it takes practice to be happy with the new you.

The challenges I faced with my latest adventure:

Balance

Most stroke survivors’ balance is affected, and mine certainly is. Being on a snowboard on ice and snow was a challenge to say the least. Having an instructor is a must while learning or regaining your confidence. To be honest it may not be as difficult as you may think. If you’d like to have snowboarding or skiing lessons, DO IT! You will not regret it if you book in and get an instructor to help teach you how to do it. They are very friendly and patient.

Energy

Personally for myself, maintaining and conserving energy has been one of the most challenging aspects to my recovery. Since I accepted the fact that I had a stroke and I need to look after myself energy wise, things started to shift for me. You can find more info about energy management in Your Stroke Recovery Toolkit and in the Ten Step Stroke Recovery Guide both of which are under the Tools & Books tab of this website.

Self Assurance

It’s very easy to simply say “believe in yourself, you can do it”, but when it comes to it, nerves naturally come up, there’s no hiding from this. What I talk about on my website, and in my products is a “gentle shift” in awareness and consciousness. The act of believing in yourself takes practice, that’s a fact. But like anything, once you take the first step you will soon realise that it was a great decision to make. As you practice believing in yourself, it will become easier and easier. I recommend that you keep on practicing. Before you know it, practice starts to make a difference for you. Possibly, at first, you’ll only take small steps forwards but over time you’ll start noticing noticeable differences.

How can I help?

I’d like to congratulate you for finding this website. I hope it becomes a helpful resource in your recovery journey. Through my blog posts I share with you all of the different strategies that have helped me in regards to believing in myself. I also share a variety of different tips and tricks that have helped me come from being hospitalized for 7 months to having moved out of home with my fiancé. Including some steps that happened before I moved out of home, such as starting two small businesses of my own.

One saying/sentence I’ve heard and I love goes something like this: “You will save so much time and energy learning off of someone who has been there and done that!”.