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A Tale Of Overcoming Adversity

By Friends & Family, Happiness & Joy, Inspiration, Life, Thinking4 Comments
sun-catcher

My new sun catcher.

I’ve wanted to write this post for a long time. I’ve started it countless times, looking at adversity from many different angles. In the end, I decided that the best way to express what I want to say about adversity and overcoming adversity is through a little tale.

Growing up I had difficulties with reading and writing because of Dyslexia and Dyspraxia. At sixteen years old, I had a reading and comprehension age of fourteen. I remember when I was younger, having to read paragraphs two or three times to get the meaning of the words. The thought of reading a book at this age, was like the thought of climbing a mountain.

I couldn’t write my name until I was ten years old. I understood what we were taught in classes, but just couldn’t write it down on paper in an organised and structured way. I got very good at talking and verbal presentation to compensate.

Fast forward to now. I have overcome adversity in relation to reading and writing. I’m always reading at least ten books at any one time. I read nineteen books last year (see Book List 2015) and I read twenty-eight books the year before that (see Book List 2014). I regularly get sent books by publisher’s publicists to read and review. Thankfully I no longer need to re-read paragraphs two or three times to understand them. I write creatively on a regular basis. I’ve recently published a short story entitled Soulmates and write for The Gay UK.

In addition to the above: I have done well academically. I have been to university twice and about to go back to university to complete a further module. I have gained a HE Diploma in Children’s Nursing and a Honours Degree in Nursing, graded at a 2:1.

The reading, the writing and the university wouldn’t have been possible without overcoming adversity. But what’s really interesting is that I’ve learned some fundamental things that were required in order for me to overcome adversity. These included:

  • Grit or determination. Not giving up. Continuing to read and write, even when I felt like I was banging my head against a brick wall.
  • The support of others. My mum fought the education authorities to get the professional help I needed to learn to read and write. Teachers, Teaching Assistants and Volunteers all spent countless hours teaching me to read and understand what I was reading. My mum fought the health authorities to get the practical support from a brilliant and professional Occupational Therapist. And of course my mum helped and supported me in so many other ways: spending time reading with me, taking me to my Occupational Therapist appointments, just listening when I needed to vent my frustration, etc.
  • Practice. Repetition is the key to learning and the way of getting good at anything. Think of when you learned to ride a bike as a child.
  • Being driven by my love of literature. Even with my difficulties in reading and writing, I used to be captivated by the stories my mum would read to me at bedtime. By how words could ignite my imagination and make me feel very real emotions.
  • People having belief and faith that I could overcome my reading and writing difficulties. This includes both family and friends.
  • Believing in myself, or at least hoping that I could overcome these reading and writing difficulties.

I would imagine that these fundamental things are essential for anyone trying to overcome adversity. I wanted to share these thoughts, for anyone currently struggling with adversity. If you have overcome adversity, how did you do it? What did you need in order to overcome adversity? Leave a comment below.

Blog soon,

Antony

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Goals & New Experiences for 2015

By Adventures, Books & Authors, Creativity, Gigs & Shows, Happiness & Joy, History, Life, Nature, Paganism, ThinkingNo Comments
goals-and-adventures-large Goals For Throughout The Year
Unticked Box Read & Review 30 books.
Unticked Box Watch & Review 12 films.
Unticked Box See a show/gig.
Unticked Box Give up smoking for good.
Unticked Box Write, Edit and publish a Novella.
Unticked Box Arrange & Have a Holiday.
Unticked Box Study Something Pagan/Druid with Chrys & Simon.

New Experiences for 2015 by month:

January
Unticked Box To start Writing again.
Unticked Box To write a series of blog posts with a ‘Mental Health Focus,’ publishing one a week throughout the month.

February
Unticked Box Try Yoga. Take a Yoga class.

March
Unticked Box Visit a Museum.

April
Unticked Box See a Sunrise.
Unticked Box Visit a new place. A city or town that I’ve never been to.

May
Unticked Box Celebrate my birthday. A night out to celebrate in style. Possibly in another city or town.
Unticked Box Visit a Castle or a Pagan site.

June
Unticked Box Spend time Walking in Nature.
Unticked Box Take time out to celebrate Litha.
Unticked Box Watch Jurassic World at the cinema.

July
Unticked Box Attend Mum’s events. Birthday, etc.
Unticked Box Watch Minions at the cinema.

August
Unticked Box Visit Chester Zoo’s new Islands exhibit.

September
Unticked Box Learn to Knit.
Unticked Box Donate to charities.

October
Unticked Box Celebrate Samhain.

November
Unticked Box Take some time out to relax.

December
Unticked Box Watch Star Wars: The Force Awakens at the cinema.

Blog soon,

Antony

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