Friday, September 19, 2008

Bouncebackability

This morning when I looked at the calendar the date had a familiar look to it. Then I realised: ten years ago today I got married.

Almost exactly three years later I was separated from my then wife, unexpectedly single again, in my late thirties and far from having the family I dreamed of and had rather expected. Ouch!

So do you know how I felt when I saw that date today?

Proud. Proud that I turned my life around and made my dream a reality. Because almost exactly four years after I had found myself separated, I was sitting in a hospital cradling my newborn son in my arms.

Father and Son

What happened in those four intervening years was no accident. I knew what I wanted, I knew there was someone out there for me: I just had to find her and make her mine! Along the way I learned a few things. I learned that when the chips are really down you find out who your friends are and that sometimes it's not who you expect. I learned that some people seem to take the opportunity to kick a man when he's down. But I also learned that I was strong, determined and unwilling to let go of my dream no matter how hard it got. I believed that "what doesn't kill me, makes me stronger"! ("Bouncebackability" we football fans like to call it.)

And today I have my reward. My son, my daughter and my fiancee, all of whom I love from the bottom of my heart. I live a life in full colour because I share it with them and for that I am thankful daily.

So if you stumble across this post at a time when life seems cruel and the future bleak, my message to you is this: find yourself, be yourself and believe! I did. And unashamedly I must tell you that I'm living my dream.

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