A lot of
people have said that this year has sucked. Well for me, this year for the most
part didn’t suck. The first 10 days were very tough, as were the next few
months, but the good definitely outweighed the tough this year. I am so
grateful for that.
I found
myself in an ambulance heading to hospital on the morning of January 10.
However, as a direct result of that happening, I have great medical
professionals around me who legitimately care about me as a human, not just a
medical experiment to pay their bills. My doctor is good enough where he knows
what to do with my health, but he isn’t arrogant enough to say he has a total
cure. Yet he (as well as my OT, Laurie) has given me enough peace and courage
to do what I can to help myself in my own health journey and I am so grateful
for that.
This year I
have re-connected with a lot of family from my dad’s side, with thanks to
social media. It’s great to know most of them still have a place in their life
for me, as I do for them. It certainly makes up for the number of people, due
to a whole bunch of different reasons, who have drifted from my life in one way or
another. Not much at all of that is a personal thing, just life happening at a
very fast pace (something I still struggle with, to be fair). I am finally
starting to learn that people do come and go in life and that it is very rarely
a personal thing against me.
I have
learned the power in consistently keeping up with medical appointments and
tests. Before this year, I would see them as an inconvenience to me living my
life and ignore it until something dramatic happened with my health. However, earlier this year my doctor told me that if I’m not keeping up
with said appointments and tests, then I’ll be less healthy and productive when
attempting to live my life. I have found this to be very true this year as I’ve
attended all appointments for everything and I am now the healthiest I have
been since 2006.
Some
absolutely amazing and accidental things have happened, such as early May this
year. I received an email inviting me to a Brisbane Broncos dinner in Perth. I
bought my ticket, even though at the time it would wreck my budget, because
these things in life only happen once in a lifetime and sometimes you just need to do fun things. I bought my ticket and had a great night. At the end of that night, I was talking with
Broncos CEO Paul White and he would tell me it was a business owners dinner and
he said I must have accidentally got the email invite. However, he said if I
love the Broncos then I am welcome to stay.
I have
achieved a dream of attending a footy game at the MCG and going to Melbourne.
Aside from the freezing cold, it was so great. From buying coffee as big as my
face and getting change from $5 for it, to accessible paths, beautiful scenery
and sport and music everywhere, it’s a great place. I can see why some friends
live there now. I will be back some day, but not in the middle of winter next
time.
Then in
August of this year, I was looking at Twitter one day when I saw a tweet
from Perth Wildcats. It was asking for game night volunteers for the current
season 2016/17. I updated my resume and applied. My first interview as far as I’m
concerned was terrible. However, that following Friday afternoon I would
receive an email asking me if I would like an interview with the Wildcats CEO Nick Marvin, on the following Monday afternoon. It went really well and he
offered me a voluntary position in the administration staff at Perth Lynx. I
now work there once a week and at every Lynx home game. I also attend all Perth
Wildcats games. It was a lot more than I originally thought it would be. It has
become a reason to fist-pump at life, to get out of bed with enthusiasm again.
I am literally at a place now where ball is life. As I said to someone
recently, if I’m not in an office for basketball, I’m working at a game,
attending a game as a fan or watching a game of NBA or NBL on my laptop. Ball
is literally life and I love it.
These are
just a few highlights to try and encourage you all that this year did not
totally suck. Not for me or for anyone, really. Sometimes we do need to try and
look a bit harder to find the goodness. To sum it all up, I have finally got
help with my overall health, both physically and mentally and I have learned
the truth in the Switchfoot line that says “love alone is worth the fight”. Yes,
it’s tough, but it is so worth it, friends. May 2017 be full of joy, peace and
love and whatever comes your way, may you be able to say that “hope is the
anthem of my soul”, as the Switchfoot song says.
Giving up is
not an option,
Perry
