Friday, February 1, 2008

A New Beginning

The title “A New Beginning” is usually used as a connotation as we enter a new phase but, I find it to be the most befitting title to sum up where I am now albeit a month late (since it would have been nice to have said so at the start of the year). Nonetheless, it seems that there’s plenty of reasons for me to feel that I’m entering a new phase.

To start off with, what was supposed to be a routine, fortnightly scan to check the progress of my fractured calf bone ended up with me feeling ecstatic. I swear I could have almost hugged and kissed the balding orthopedist when the magical words “I will remove your cast today” came out from his mouth. After a month of having to deal with physical immobility and being confined most of the time, it feels as if I’ve been given a new lease of life. What made the moment awesome was the fact that this was happening 2 weeks ahead of initial schedule. Against all odds, I guess the amount of alcohol consumed along with the partying the weekend before did help accelerate the growth of new bone cells.

Though the removal of the cast was a torrid experience whereby the orthopedist seemed to be attempting to saw my leg off as he cut through the cast with an equipment somewhat similar to a chainsaw, the joy of finally being able to move around with a bit more mobility was simply overwhelming. So I thought! My right leg had now shrunk in size by at least a quarter of what it used to be and that was just the start of what would probably be a long recovery process. As I slipped on a pair of slippers (which I brought along since I had a premonition that my cast could be removed today), I realized that I had been so used to moving around with crutches to the extent that it became second nature for me to reach out for the crutches every time I wanted to move around. The first few steps I attempted were akin to a toddler learning to walk as my right leg hardly had any strength and I was told by the medical staff that it would be at least a week or so before I could start walking normally. In the meantime, I’m supposed to take it one step after another and go through physiotherapy to start getting used to walking. New Beginning number 1 – Learning how to walk.

Switching topics, I was in a meeting a day earlier whereby I was supposedly going through a transition for a new area of work which I would be taking on. As the other folks in the meeting went on with their presentation interrupted with halts in between to further discuss some topics, I was pretty much in a different wavelength altogether as I was trying hard to absorb what was being said. In a couple of days, I would be fully accountable for this area of business but in the meantime, a big part of what was being discussed sounded like Swahili to me. I guess I would have to go through a steep learning curve all over again in the next couple of months to ensure that I would at least understand what was going on the next time we have such meetings. New Beginning number 2 – Learning a new business.

Though the 2 topics above are hardly life changing moments, it does bring with it a very strong sense of a new beginning. Apart from learning how to walk and picking up a new business, there are plenty more that comes along with it. The hell I went through with the cast serves as a reminder to be more cautious in taking risk (and not to attempt to challenge for every ball in a football game). It also brings with it lessons on appreciating what we have (as mentioned in my previous babble) and a slight change in lifestyle whereby I’m now surprisingly an early person – getting up and knocking off much earlier than before as I had to follow the timing of my sister who was kind enough to offer me a ride to work daily. Separately, the new area of work calls for better time management and prioritizing apart from several other things. All in, there’s quite a fair bit of tweaks and alterations that is needed compared to how I was running around prior to this.

For the time being, I’m determined to be consciously working on these and if I do succeed with most even if not all, it would be quite a contrast. Hence, I’m looking forward to brighter times ahead as I embark on this new beginning. Meanwhile, the first thing to focus on is to learn and practice how to walk like normal and the rest should follow suit!

No comments: