I’m a massive believer in fate. I believe everything happens for a reason and for me October 2018 was absolute proof of this.
It all started to with a text message to a friend based down in London. He ran an ‘marketing’ agency down there and I sent him a message to check in with him; in the message I mentioned I was ready to start working again so asked him to keep his hears open in the off chance he may come across an opportunity.
Within a few minutes I got a text back with a few expletives in it, saying that just that day someone had messaged him about a short term, 3 month contract based down in London. ‘send me your CV this weekend’ he said..
I updated my CV and with a bit of hesitancy (could I commute to London for 3 months?) I sent across my CV. I heard nothing until on a late summers Wednesday night in the last week of September I was out on a bike ride and had called in at the local pub for a beer. I looked at my phone and had several missed calls and messages from my friend.
I called him back and the conversation opened with ‘they want you’, ‘Who?’ I replied. The company in London want you, can you start Monday? ‘Errrrm, I guess so’!
And like that, my life was about to turn a corner, for good.
The summer months had allowed me to rebuild, find myself and get some confidence back. Monday 1st October I was about to start the next part of my journey, getting back to work.
If you’ve read some of my previous blogs, you’ll have gathered at times I can be ‘Mr Safe’ not one for doing something that is completely out of my comfort zone. Well, things were about to change.
After a brief call with my new employer on the Thursday evening to give me a top level brief of the role, it was time to enjoy the weekend and get my bags packed.
Train tickets set, I headed to the station for a 6:00am start. I hadn’t had a 6am start since February!!
Rolling up to London with my briefcase and suitcase I didn’t know what to expect; but I didn’t mind or care. I’d just been through the toughest time in my life, where at times I didn’t know if I would have the opportunity to go back to working life. So head held high I arrived at a plush London office to take on the challenge!
After two fast paced weeks packed with meeting new people, learning about a new business and getting to grips with what I needed to achieve in the next 10 weeks it was time for a holiday that we had pre-booked some weeks previous.
We’d booked some later winter sun in the beautiful island of Menorca. By this point my skin was less sensitive to the side effects of treatment so we decided to book a week where we could relax and treat ourselves following the year we’d had.
Without going in to chapter and verse about our holiday, there was one particular event that took place that I wanted to share with you.
Arriving in Menorca and waking up on our first morning looking out in to the Sea with beautiful cliffs and sunshine; I (we) couldn’t quite believe how our lives had come almost full circle. Life was back as we had previously known it. Just a few months prior I was laid in a bed having treatment, now I was alive and enjoying the wonderful things this world can offer.
The moment I wanted to share was my ‘absolute’ turning point. Robin and I had set out on a hike along the cliff tops heading towards the next bay. The day was warm, the air was fresh and the wind coming inland from the ocean was forceful. Along our walk we spotted a sign which was pointing to a ‘viewing’ spot along the cliff. We headed along and when we got there the view that opened up across the vast ocean and cliffs in the distance was breath-taking; combined with the sun on my face and the power of the wind and standing as close to the edge of the cliff that I dared, I stood, opened my arms and absorbed the moment. Feeling so insignificant in comparison to the ocean that laid in-front of me, I felt SO ALIVE. More Alive than I think I ever had done previously. Life was here again, it was time to embrace it with Open Arms.
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