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“The pessimist complains about the wind,
the optimist expects it to change,
the realist adjusts the sails.”
William A. Ward
I had a super week off last week – where I was on a retreat of sorts which meant absolutely no technology. It was very refreshing and something that re-enforced the benefits of really ‘Time Out’.
So on Sunday just gone, I was feeling positive about something I had committed to weeks ago – an abseil for charity down the side of the new 9 storey Red Cow Moran Hotel in Dublin.
You’d have thought that was the riskier side of my weekend, but as it turned out, no it wasn’t.
Later Sunday afternoon after ‘surviving’ the abseil… I was walking with my wife, Judy, on Brittas Bay beach in Wicklow, Ireland when we met a woman in distress because her daughter’s dog had escaped and she wasn’t used to the beach. She was afraid the dog would have no bearings at all about where to go.
We soon located the dog running the full length of the beach in the opposite direction.
The woman was in her early 70s and sprinting didn’t seem to be on the agenda… so I thought to myself ‘Do the right thing Cradock’ – so off I gamely went in pursuit of the dog.
Now while I like to think of myself as being fit I haven’t sprinted for a while, and that’s what happened here – because every-time I thought I had the dog he’d take off again at full pelt.
But then, when victory was in my grasp and I was just about to get him, I felt a bang in my right leg and I crumpled to the ground.
No pain initially, but I couldn’t use my right leg at all.
Next thing I knew the dog was licking my face!! ( A couple walking had seen me chasing him and brought him over)
Long story short, I had to be assisted off the beach, then taken to the A&E of a hospital in Dublin – to hear that my Achilles tendon had popped and walking and driving was off the agenda for a few weeks!! So I’m currently writing this with my leg elevated and my right foot in a medical boot.
Now who says good deeds go unrewarded?! 😉
I’m always inspired by many people around me who have a great capacity to look for opportunity in any challenge.
It truly is a gift. But it’s not always easy.
Stuff happens. Stuff that we don’t like. But it’s reality.
So today, I’m taking a dose of my own medicine.
And I’m looking for the opportunities – but I need to adjust my sail.
Maybe this week, whatever’s going on around you, you can too. 🙂
Best,
Shane
