August Rush #3 Dare to live; One hand at a time

Andrea Bocelli and Laura Paulsini in their song ,vivere capture my last four years, the first stanza stands out, “Try looking at tomorrow not yesterday, and all the things u left behind, all those tender words you did not say, the gentle touch you couldnt find, dare to live until the very last,dare to live forgeting abt the past, dare to live give something of yourself to others more even when it seems there’s nothing left to give . When I was being nominated for most outstanding blogger, one message stood out, that I write with one hand as the other is paralyzed and I had written one hand at a time.

When the Stroke came, I couldn’t sit down and cry, I had lost a lot and was destined for bigger things, I had secured a Masters in Law from the University of Pretoria and I was literally on the way to Jericho. Ofcourse I had bad days, was on antidepressants for about six months and the doctor mentioned to me about the Placebo effect when prescribing them. In simple speak this is like taking sugar pills for a headache relief and the headache goes. There is no therapeutic value in the sugar pills, but then the headache goes. Could it be a product of Imagination? How does the mind determine that. The good book in proverbs 23:7 sayeth,”As a man thinketh, so is he”. Therefore we can’t underestimate the power of the mind in all this. The irony is that I am a Neuro patient having suffered a brain attack. I have never believed in self pity even in Perfect health. I’m always amazed when some friends tell me that they keep moving on when they see me daring to live in my circumstances. I’m a prisoner of hope living one day at a time. Speaking and writing used to be my trade as I did Punditry on a local radio station, the highlight for me was when I appeared with Fred Enanga, the current spokesperson for the Uganda police

So upon the stroke, I knew that I had to do what I loved most to aid neuroplasticity (repair of the damaged nerves). This can take time and be annoyingly slow. The only way out of a stroke is Physiotherapy and sometimes, it can be painful which is why I decided to look at it as the beautiful pain.

Right after physiotherapy, I try out some hand exercises to strengthen the hand and the joints by pressing softballs,it makes the hands maintain their functional position and improve on the gripping as I train with a walker for walking.

In Perfect health, I was a Bibliophile and most friends who know me get me books for reading

So whatever life throws at you, keep going, don’t be limited by your challenges but challenge your limits and always Dare to live looking at tomorrow not yesterday. My story is being written and who knows, may write a memoir.If there’s anything I live for,it is giving people hope because hope is a good thing perhaps the best of things and no good thing dies.