Another Mountain Conquered

We all have mountains to climb; always intimidating, sometimes seemingly insurmountable. We all encounter roadblocks in life, and those of us with autoimmune diseases often have to tackle these in private, as outwardly we look fine to the next person, but very few understand just how crippling it can be. For some of us that mountain is just getting through a full day without needing to sleep in the afternoon.

18 months ago a lightbulb failed in my kitchen. Who could have guessed that such a simple thing could cause me so much upset. I tried to stand on a chair to change it but it was impossible; the anti gliadin antibodies in my brain tissue that had led to my encephalopathy made balance too difficult. I had to eat in the dark for days and wait for a friend to visit before that bulb could be changed. My balance had been bad all my life but this was a new low. I was ready to give up.

Today I have totally overhauled my health following the Autoimmune Protocol (AIP) and in celebration of this my sister bought me a gift of a 5 hour climbing lesson with a professional instructor. Imagine me, a once 275lb man with no balance tackling a 3 storey climbing wall!

Well I’m pleased to say that today I did it, I tackled this head on as I have with every single one of the challenges this illness presents me, and I made it to the top! Another mountain conquered; another fabulous chapter in my recovery.

A dear friend, a devout Buddhist, made a speech at my wedding 10 years ago. She wished my wife and I rough seas, for rough seas she said, make the best sailors. It’s the adversity in life that gives us our strength: it’s not what you can do, it’s what you do when you think you can’t.

Whatever your mountain is today I wish you success in your climb, and even if you don’t reach the summit, perhaps the view from where you do climb will be so spectacular that you might just be happy with where you’ve ascended to.