It’s been a while–September 28, 2017, to be exact–since I last posted in the Being UnlimBited blog.  I started the blog to help navigate through a life-changing event.  I did it to help me focus on the positive things in my life, and to create awareness on community events that I felt made a difference.  When my friends and colleagues said, “you need to write about your experience”, that may not be what they had in mind.  It was my observations through a new lens, but it was not my experience.  So why didn’t I blog on my experience?  It was the simple matter of a pending legal settlement with the insurance companies associated with the accident that caused the loss of my leg.  The legal advice that I received was to not talk about my recovery as it could be misconstrued and used against me.  For just over six years I had to keep the worst experience of my life to myself.  Well sort of.  I still shared my challenges and my successes with my inner circle, but I did not share it with the public.

Now, the legal settlement is completed.  Is it time to open the flood gates?  Actually, no.  The restrictions I experienced guided me to a very important experience.  I remained positive.  It was always my intention to remain positive.  It was the basis of this blog.  If I had started to dwell on the challenges I faced, I would have gone down a pretty dark rabbit hole.  That said, while I remained impeccable in print, I did open up to other amputees.  I was able to do so in a way that allowed me to be vulnerable and that they could get insight that they benefited from.  More on that later.  For now, let’s lift the covers and take a glimpse at some of the personal experiences I faced.

Let’s talk about the single most important thing I’ve done in the past seven years.  I found purpose.  Before the accident my life had been very active, with a focus on being outside.  The new limitations I experienced took that away from me.  I found myself looking for an alternative that would impassion me while accommodating for my lack of balance and ability.  Riding horses and motorcycles were no longer attainable.  Walking my dog was limited to the summer months and only on the good days that I wasn’t experiencing pain, or I hadn’t already exerted myself in some other activity.  Think grocery shopping…  So, what was it to be then?

My first step was to get back into the workplace.  I sought out a role where I could continue to build on the skills that I had developed over the years.  This blog was a great transition to that.  It engaged my creative self and gave me back the drive that was necessary to take it into a career.  I was fortunate enough to find a small business that didn’t have a marketing position yet.  But they had vision.  And they were open to new ideas.  And they had a casual dress code…perfect!  So, I found my way back into what I loved to do, for a business that was entirely new to me.  I had some learning to do, and I had expertise to share in exchange for that.  Suddenly I was no longer preoccupied with being disabled and rather was quite enabled in flexing my creative muscle.  Did I mention I got to have my dog at work?  Fantastic!

All new jobs come with a learning curve..to a degree.  The great jobs present challenges that are based on constant change.  That’s what I had.  My days were filled with new problems to be solved.  It was invigorating.  Despite this constant change and the constant need to respond to that change, I found that things were still lacking.  I needed more. 

I was always one to have a very strong work/life balance.  During my best years I would make a defined transition from my workday to my activity of choice.  For a couple of decades that was riding or working with horses.  For most of those years I trained six days a week.  What could I now do that would get me out from in front of the television and leave me feeling like I was truly involved?  Was there something that would allow me to also spend time with my dog, who deserved to be engaged as well?  It took awhile before I found it.  And when I did, I wasn’t convinced it was the thing for me. 

That thing was therapy dog work.  Before the accident I had done some basic training with my dog Ziggy, that would set him up as a therapy dog.  That training required me to walk in an agile way, which was something I could no longer do.  However, as my abilities improved, so did my confidence.  I began to wonder if I would be able to continue Ziggy’s training with this new disability.  I would never know the answer until I tried.  So, I tried.

I enrolled in a low-stress class that focused on the basics.  I crashed around the room with my cane in one hand and Ziggy in the other.  As I did so I discovered something important.  Inadvertently Ziggy had gained some essential skills that would be required by a therapy dog.  He had to be confident around canes and crutches.  He had to be confident around a walker.  He had to be confident around wheelchairs.  I used or had used all of these with my new reality.  Ziggy was not only confident around them, but he also sought the person using them out.  He associated these assistive devices as tools used by someone he loved.  He was certain that those who used them were well worth knowing and he would be happy to be their friend.

And so, it began.  Training continued and testing was done.  Over time we were approved as a therapy dog team.  The next step was to determine where we would spend our time.  That decision did not come overnight, but it was a great one when it did.  I’ll tell you more about that in the next Being UnlimBited post.  In the meantime, I encourage all readers of this blog to reflect on your own purpose and how it fulfills you. I’d love to hear about it.