Facing Challenges: Valuable Lessons from Kayaking for Life and Business

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
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Letting The Cancer Fester 2

You can click here if you missed part one…….. and if they were active in church, temporarily relieved of any duties until they served out the suspension period.  If you refused the discipline, you were ex-communicated. Nevertheless, before that suspension stage, you would have had warnings. Warnings given privately at those face-saving meetings held with you. … Read more

Repurpose Your Pain

The Japanese philosophy of wabi-sabi celebrates the transience and imperfection of life. It sees beauty where we see ugliness. Detour where we see a cul-de-sac. And from it derives the concept of Kintsukuroi – A word which urges us to accept failings and extend grace to ourselves and others. Kintsukuroi profoundly challenges our grasp of … Read more

Worth More Than Flowers

As I stood there with the flower vase staring at him angrily while he argued, conflicting thoughts crisscrossed through my mindfield.
 
 
“Think before you say the next thing now so I do not smash this thing on your head”  But as he continued talking, I shut the door and walked.
 
“Phew, that was close!  at what point did I leave the soothing warmth of my early morning Father-daughter bonding to this mother-son heated brouhaha?”   The last thing I recall was going to the fridge for some milk.  And now I stood by the kitchen counter pacing my breath.
 

“you almost fell into that trap and would have ruined this atmosphere over nothing”   the rebuke came

Atmosphere.  Trap.  Fell.  Nothing. Then it hit me.  Cradling my cup of hot chocolate I walked back into my room.  As I sat back down on my Prayer/Yoga mat I heard again “Over nothing”.
 
“It is not nothing.  That Plant already survived the winter and is thriving in this Spring and I keep telling him ……”
 
“And you life-giver enabled it to survive the winter?  how many flowers do we have in this house again?”
 
“Why are you flipping it on me now?  did you not watch him kill my Maranta last year?
 
“the winter would have finished it off anyway.  And the Maranta is sprouting again so why are you whining?
 
“Aha, now I am whining?”
 
 
“I will slash his footballs if I have to”.  I huffed
 
 
“Since when have you ever slashed anything?”
 
 
Ouch!
 
 
“Is it not your fault that I am so constrained? afterall…….”
 
“Amara, how many plants do we have in this house?
 
 
 Grudgingly, I stood up again to go take stock.
 
 

Meanwhile, the past few days had been rough.  Last night I had knocked off about four hours of sleep without the morphine.  By 7 am, I had spent time catching up with friends around the Globe, finally finished the story I began writing weeks back and caught up on my messages.  Manifested my day, had an invigorating bath, dressed up and back on my Prayer Mat for some Father-Daughter time.

 
It felt like the real me. Such days were rare and it was probably that feeling which generated all these dopamine I was floating on now.  Also, having a hot cuppa during my devotions gave me an early morning bonding feeling with my father.  And that was how the milk idea came up.

 

Then I saw them on the floor! My precious Chinese Money plant!

 

Lifting the pot to examine, what I saw had my head spinning and the next thing I knew I had yanked his door open. 

This same boy had smashed a big antique silvery vase last month and I chose to accept sorry and peace of mind.  This, right after the winter finished off the Maranta plant from where his football stopped.  My young Philodendron which defied the winter is now fighting for life because each time it attempts to hug the trellis, his football knocks it over. Until he recently met me halfway by hedging it.

 
And now, this!
 
Nonetheless, as I walked around counting all the flowers, I saw the knocked over card on the floor and read the words again.
 
Then images flashed before my eyes.  The countless ways he has cared for me as I battled the illness. The toll it has taken on him and how he is still a little boy after all.
 
Later as he was leaving for school, he stood by my door and explained:
 
“You know that I now play football against only that wall by the sofa.  It was while moving the table last night that it hit the pot. You were already asleep so I could not tell you.  It was not football”
 
“Ndo.  Sorry I shouted at you”  I apologised
 
This son of mine; worth more than all the flowers in the world.

Letter To Lucifer

Hello Lucifer, My grandfather, Reverend David Nwokocha, died at 100+ years.  He could not stand the boredom after his wife left. My grandmother, Mama-Ukwu was 87 when she bowed out with dignity My mother SUB, a septuagenarian is still here. My father SI ran off at 74.  His soul became weary after the accident and … Read more

The Rose Garden II

And as all of Heaven zoomed off leaving him to his fate, he stood and walked into Judas’ embrace.   “Rabboni”  Judas greeted   “What took you so long?”  he whispered   Aghast, Judas stared at him.  “you knew?”   “But I did tell you earlier during Supper”  Mallam replied wearily   “Yes, but…. how … Read more