Up until five years ago I was a successful singing teacher and singer. I loved my job, and had a busy life with major choirs, concerts, teaching in various places, gardening, walking and generally being busy! I was at the birth of my twin grandchildren and enjoyed the bond we shared. Iloved to read a wide range of books, from those relating to my field to murder mysteries and science fiction! I wrote poetry, some of which was published in America, met a wonderful man and married. Then suddenly, between one step and the next, I was in hospital, disabled from the waist down with a very rare condition called Transverse Myelitis (TM). After three weeks in hospital I was sent home, then a month later suffered another attack which affected me from the neck down. My whole life was not just stopped but turned upside down and inside out as well! I started looking at the things I could do (not the things I couldn't) because I decided there were two ways to go - one was to sit down and give up, the other was to make the best of what had happened and forge a whole new life. No competition really!
I decided to start to write about my experiences during the first year of my TM. There were many hilarious events as well as the difficult ones, and after a while I realised I'd got a book here! It was a cathartic experience for me, but more to the point it seems to strike a chord with those who read it - from newly disabled (who could relate to the experiences and were so glad they were not alone), to the able-bodied who said "I never thought about that".
I wasn't going to write another - but it seems to be writing itself without me! So now I list writing amongst my hobbies - after my family and friends, espcially my husband of seven years - without whom I don't think I would be where I am today.
During the last two-and-a-half years I've been studying NLP (Neuro Linguistic Programming) - a powerful set of life coaching tools. Having gained my Diploma and Practitioner Certificates, I'm now finishing the work towards my Master Practitioner, and hope to have this before Christmas. NLP has helped me understand a great deal about myself and how my beliefs and values have been formed, and I'm now looking towards helping others towards the same awareness, and the ability to look at life as a series of choices.
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