Disabled Keynote Speaker on Challenge, Forced Change & Crisis Recovery | Recovering Quadriplegic | J#EDI Strategist | Board Member (Corporate & Non-Profit) | Obsessed with Rowing
Today I had to return to the spinal unit where I spent the last 2 months of my hospital-based rehab after neck-down paralysis. The place I had many dark ‘4am moments’ of despair and created puddles of tears as a scared newly-injured patient. However, today’s visit wasn’t an emotional challenge. Quite the opposite. Why? What did I do then that allows me to be ok about it now? Of course, it’s never one thing in isolation but the thing that stands out at the top of my list is the act of reframing a scenario. Questions like: 👉What are the facts of this situation (objectively)? 👉What can I and can’t I affect right now? 👉What do I have to accept and what is the opportunity so I know where to focus, not waste my energy? Of course, everyone is unique and therefore every response to every challenge is unique. For me, reframing my most challenging moments or when tough decisions needed to be made allowed me to reclaim some control over an often spiralling-out-of-control scenario… and it helped me move forward. A word to the wise… Practice reframing in the good times. Start today! Get good at it before you need it. #Challenge #ForcedChange #CrisisRecovery Alt Text: Landscape photo of Horatio's Garden at Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital (RNOH) NHS Trust with several mature trees, bushes, a wide meandering path and a water feature. It wasn’t there when I was an in-patient but is a wonderfully zen space that new patients find comforting.
