This is a post from my Facebook archives. I shared it with my social media family during the summer of 2017.
I am resharing as one of those days during Chemotherapy a friend called me up and reminded me of how inspiring I have always been. Then shared this link. I represent it here six years later for 2 reasons:
- As I read through, It hit me that even in a battle with the monstrous cancer, these lessons remain timeless.
- And to see if my writing style has evolved over the years.
I spent last Saturday on the Lagos Lagoon during a Kayaking session. You probably know that already if you follow me on Social Media.
It was a fun afternoon spent crossing another item off my list.
Oh, sure, I do have a list. A list made up of fun things I want to do. Some of them I should have done earlier but I was shackled under the What-If fear. You can call it a handbag instead of a bucket list afterall you can tote a bag around easily.
Yeah, I was talking about my Kayaking venture.
Dear reader, it was such an awesome experience. I had so much fun. Such unquantifiable fun and so many lessons kept popping up during that period that I marvelled at how I could glean such lessons while stuck in no man’s water.
Well, you know by now that whenever something pops in my head, I think of you to share. And because of that, I have made this list of these 10 lessons which you could apply to your life or business:
- Face that fear: when the news about going on the deep waters broke in my Fitness Group, more people backed down from Aquaphobia than Moneyphobia. It was good to see that people who could fly on air, put their bodies through all sorts of contortions, and run a self-imposed range of 5km to a full marathon could shy away from merely going to exercise on water. [Honestly, after my surgery in the weeks preceeding chemo, I caught the fear bug]
- Listen to an experienced hand: before we went on the water, we had a debriefing session. The old man worked on our minds and prepared us for the adventure. I asked the most questions of all and at a stage, one of the team members had to shush me that my questions were too much and fear-inducing. But all I was doing was empowering myself with a SWOT analysis. He enunciated the things to look out for and how to behave at each circumstance. He reinforced the reason why people topple over into the water and how to act if you do fall in. How to behave and sir it out when a bigger vessel roughens up the water and your boat is being tossed to and fro. [The hospital organised a course titled demystifying chemo. All through treatment, her head kept ringing in my head each time something new occurred]
- When your Boat topples, stay afloat: One of the fears most of us expressed was what to do in such an eventuality. He said a simple thing – your body will be in the water but your head will keep bobbing thanks to the life jacket. So all you had to do was assume the prayer position until help came. We saw that play out when a guy toppled and had to remain like that until help got to him. Can your logical mind imagine a simple thing like palms together with face up will save your life? So it also is in life where you realize your boat will flip over once or twice on this journey. [During treatment, some days I fell into the water, other days I remained afloat]
- Your response while inside the waters determines your survival. Read the rest here