Ok, so the question was asked and the response was delivered. I knew that I would need to consider what my “new beginnings” beyond just a normal cardiac recovery might be.
After a serious soul searching to understand what I need to do with not just my general recovery, but now my life, I decided to go beyond what I thought my recovery would be. I decided that I needed to not only rebuild my body, I also needed to strengthen my mind. When your world becomes emotionally challenging you can either surrender and give up, or you can decide to make drastic, important changes to find a new pathway forward to reinforce the outcomes needed for your health and your happiness. I chose the latter and began to explore what options I needed to consider in order to move forward.
So, while I continued with my cardiac rehab, I conceptualized options for my future. At my rehab sessions I began to consider more intently the questions I was constantly being asked. I am doing exercise at home? Am I taking walks? Am I doing active sports? Am I eating healthy? How do I feel? Have I been sick or run a fever? Based on these questions, and many more, I began to develop a recovery plan concept that would go beyond my previous goals of just getting back to where I was pre-event. I need to prepare for the next chapter in my life.
First, I needed to look at my physical wellbeing more holistically in order to consider what efforts I would need to put forward in a reimagined recovery. In doing this assessment I discovered that I needed to not only improve my physical strength, but I should also consider the need to become more comfortable with the fact that I am aging. This aging consideration is a big one and would challenge my questioning of who I am. I have never been comfortable with the thoughts of “growing old”, or any conversation about my looks and my limitations with aging. Ah, the word “limitation” might now need to be adjusted to not be a negative impact word, but shifted to become a positive line-in-the-sand to reach for in order to achieve success.
I also knew that how I looked impacted how I felt. Not only did I need to get stronger physically so I could do more challenging activities, but I needed to feel confident in doing the activities and that I looked comfortable doing them. “Confidence” is another important word. As I have noted in previous writings, I have a mountain bike that I want to get out on. While there might be a challenge to go down a steep mountain side with many dangers, going out on trail rides with some hilly areas could be totally acceptable. Same for skiing or any other sport that provides impactful exhilaration without the extreme challenges and potential injuries with going beyond the “limitations” of comfort and skill.
And I also know that this recovery and rebuilding period will be much longer in time than just the three months given to my cardiac rehab period. This new recovery and rebuilding effort will probably take a year if not longer. Whatever I do also needs to become a lifelong effort with very few intermissions. This will be a new commitment to my life and anyone that I am fortunate to share it with.
I will begin my new journey now…
“Have you ever needed to reconsider your life and what happens next, please share in the comments box or by email.”