The Ottobuck 2016 competition for Amputees (‘My Winning Moment’) closed 31/05/2016. If I’d known about the competition a bit earlier, I might have tried to enter, just ‘sommer’ for the sake of entering also, as being amputee is now my life (how and why and with what I would have entered, I have no cookin’ clue).
Whichever, the topic really got me thinking and still refuses to leave my thoughts.
What would my winning moment be...?
Do I have any, at this stage? Do I have a winning moment waiting around the corner? Does a winning moment simply happen? (Maybe, if you believe in Fairy Tales I presume). And, at so early into being an amputee, do I even have the right to comment or write bout this?
Even worse, was/were there winning moments I was not able to recognise yet?
Barely 6 months into being ‘an amputee’, I can’t pinpoint a singular WOAH winning moment yet. And when looking at all the Ottobuck entries, I am also jealous. Not only of what these people have accomplished, their rising above their own issues, but also of the dreams and ideals they had before their particular accidents/amputations and still working towards it and refusing to give it up.
My own dreams or goals before, never included becoming a skate board or surfing champion or running the Comrades. Neither was I someone who climbed mountains or rocks. I really cannot even attempt to try and walk or run on the same/ most basic levels as these peopl.
...Or doing deep sea diving. Running was for relaxation and simply because I wanted to do it, I enjoyed it, it simply was part of being me (and the freedom I depended upon).
I also never was into swimming so that leaves the sea or swimming pools outside scope as well. (OK, if there was any tree climbing competitions, I might have gone for that since that was always one thing I was good at since birth! My parents would have said it was due to my ‘baboon’ genes…LoL).
For now the[my] Bottom line is –
Most of us totally forget, a winning moment does not necessarily have to be something BIG.
Winning moments would not necessarily be accompanied by sparks and lightning or fireworks in the sky. Neither does it have to be a singular activity or moment in space. It does not necessarily have to entertain medals or media. Mostly, it could be something so small – which could turn into something big.
If I have to share reflections about myself, I have a lot of winning moments. Regularly.
Each morning when I put on my prosthesis, it is a winning moment. I will be able to function as a functional human being for the day, and that is winning in its own.
Each evening when I take the prosthesis off, I reflect on what I managed during the day, and that also, is a winning moment.
Being able to go outside the restrictions of the house/home (versus being stuck indoors in a wheel chair) - that is a winning moment as well.
Being able to walk on my own and i.e. making my own coffee and carrying it to my office without spilling – that is also a winning moment (although, at this stage you should still call me “Lurch”, a lot of coffee still spills on the floor!)
Preparing lunch or dinner, is, every time; a winning moment (and here I really would have preferred to leave cooking outside the required activities – I really hate cooking!)
But every time I am in the kitchen preparing meals, I am thankful for being able to do it. For several months I was not able to do this, such a common activity we never even question, which we all take for granted.
And that’ winning moments as well.
We really forget the small things.
We forget sometimes, when wanting something or anything, when working towards Any goal; we first have to manage the small steps. Baby steps. And every baby step, is a winning moment as well
My husband’s face the first time he saw me without crutches… that is another winning moment.
My colleagues’ faces, when they first saw me on crutches (after the wheelchair mode) thereafter trying to walk (lurching haha) without the crutches, -is also something special.
My mother’s delight when I tell her, I can now take a bath on my own.
I have so many winning moments… !
***
And You have too.... your wheel chair is not your life. Your attempts to walking, that is you life. and your success!..
The support I received from friends and colleagues, during hospitals stay and after. Sometimes, winning moments are simply in the mind, changing perceptions. Realising who cares, and who does not.
Being able to ‘understand’ in my own mind, and to move forward - nothing is handed on a golden platter- such things also takes a lot of work.
And starting to and continuing to DO the work required. That in itself, include so many winning moments itself!
I win.... and you can too. Something small, can really become something Big!!
Whichever, the topic really got me thinking and still refuses to leave my thoughts.
What would my winning moment be...?
Do I have any, at this stage? Do I have a winning moment waiting around the corner? Does a winning moment simply happen? (Maybe, if you believe in Fairy Tales I presume). And, at so early into being an amputee, do I even have the right to comment or write bout this?
Even worse, was/were there winning moments I was not able to recognise yet?
Barely 6 months into being ‘an amputee’, I can’t pinpoint a singular WOAH winning moment yet. And when looking at all the Ottobuck entries, I am also jealous. Not only of what these people have accomplished, their rising above their own issues, but also of the dreams and ideals they had before their particular accidents/amputations and still working towards it and refusing to give it up.
My own dreams or goals before, never included becoming a skate board or surfing champion or running the Comrades. Neither was I someone who climbed mountains or rocks. I really cannot even attempt to try and walk or run on the same/ most basic levels as these peopl.
...Or doing deep sea diving. Running was for relaxation and simply because I wanted to do it, I enjoyed it, it simply was part of being me (and the freedom I depended upon).
I also never was into swimming so that leaves the sea or swimming pools outside scope as well. (OK, if there was any tree climbing competitions, I might have gone for that since that was always one thing I was good at since birth! My parents would have said it was due to my ‘baboon’ genes…LoL).
For now the[my] Bottom line is –
Most of us totally forget, a winning moment does not necessarily have to be something BIG.
Winning moments would not necessarily be accompanied by sparks and lightning or fireworks in the sky. Neither does it have to be a singular activity or moment in space. It does not necessarily have to entertain medals or media. Mostly, it could be something so small – which could turn into something big.
If I have to share reflections about myself, I have a lot of winning moments. Regularly.
Each morning when I put on my prosthesis, it is a winning moment. I will be able to function as a functional human being for the day, and that is winning in its own.
Each evening when I take the prosthesis off, I reflect on what I managed during the day, and that also, is a winning moment.
Being able to go outside the restrictions of the house/home (versus being stuck indoors in a wheel chair) - that is a winning moment as well.
Being able to walk on my own and i.e. making my own coffee and carrying it to my office without spilling – that is also a winning moment (although, at this stage you should still call me “Lurch”, a lot of coffee still spills on the floor!)
Preparing lunch or dinner, is, every time; a winning moment (and here I really would have preferred to leave cooking outside the required activities – I really hate cooking!)
But every time I am in the kitchen preparing meals, I am thankful for being able to do it. For several months I was not able to do this, such a common activity we never even question, which we all take for granted.
And that’ winning moments as well.
We really forget the small things.
We forget sometimes, when wanting something or anything, when working towards Any goal; we first have to manage the small steps. Baby steps. And every baby step, is a winning moment as well
My husband’s face the first time he saw me without crutches… that is another winning moment.
My colleagues’ faces, when they first saw me on crutches (after the wheelchair mode) thereafter trying to walk (lurching haha) without the crutches, -is also something special.
My mother’s delight when I tell her, I can now take a bath on my own.
I have so many winning moments… !
***
And You have too.... your wheel chair is not your life. Your attempts to walking, that is you life. and your success!..
The support I received from friends and colleagues, during hospitals stay and after. Sometimes, winning moments are simply in the mind, changing perceptions. Realising who cares, and who does not.
Being able to ‘understand’ in my own mind, and to move forward - nothing is handed on a golden platter- such things also takes a lot of work.
And starting to and continuing to DO the work required. That in itself, include so many winning moments itself!
I win.... and you can too. Something small, can really become something Big!!
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