Have you ever felt like the whole world seems to be against you? Or have you been faced by challenges, which may seem to be too hard to overcome? Probably yes. That’s what happened to me. And I’m pretty sure it happens to everybody out there at least once in life. I love to travel and it’s during these travels that I experience a lot of valuable knowledge, which I’d like to share with you…
It happened on a beautiful day in april this year. Together with my friend I hiked up Mount Roy – also known as Roy’s Peak – in Wanaka NZ to catch the sunrise. We started at 4 am in the morning and just on time, at 6.30 am we reached the peak. As we were setting up our equipment to get some shots I was so amazed by the view that I jumped on my way to reach the furthest point as… ‘CRACK’… I suddenly felt a terrible pain on my heel (yes, the title image was taken right after
). I had no idea what just happened, but I couldn’t move my foot properly again. After a while I figured my only option was to block out the pain and somehow walk down that mountain, which then took us around 4 hours (probably the longest 4 hours in my life). As I visited the doctor I got the devestating diagnose: I’ve got an achilles tendon rapture… Shortly after the shock I realised that my travels are over. After 3.5 months travelling through Australia and New Zealand it was my dream to visit America for the first time, to explore their famous National Parks…all bursted in a blink of an eye.
). I had no idea what just happened, but I couldn’t move my foot properly again. After a while I figured my only option was to block out the pain and somehow walk down that mountain, which then took us around 4 hours (probably the longest 4 hours in my life). As I visited the doctor I got the devestating diagnose: I’ve got an achilles tendon rapture… Shortly after the shock I realised that my travels are over. After 3.5 months travelling through Australia and New Zealand it was my dream to visit America for the first time, to explore their famous National Parks…all bursted in a blink of an eye.There was it. The challenge. What am I gonna do about it? I figured that I have two choices. I can either suffer and feel sorry for myself that I miss out on a huge opportunity. Or I can take this challenge and simply make the best out of it. Even better I can prove myself and maybe others that there are still many things possible with a handicap. It’s all a matter of the right mindset. As I got used to the fact that I will be on crutches for quite a while and my ability to pursue my passion, taking stunning photographs, will be limited, I started to think. Think about the real reason, why people love to travel. It’s about the experiences. Life experiences. This will be just another one. So I started to see things differently and focused on the things I was still able to do rather than the ones I couldn’t. I enjoyed the places I visited just a bit more instead of feeling sad about what I’m possibly missing out.
Here’s what I think: People tend to focus on the problem if they face a challenge. Instead we should focus on the possible solutions. If one door closes another one will open. People tend to become disappointed, because something went the wrong way or they missed out on something. Instead we should be happy and thankful about the things that have happened and the experiences we actually made. We should be thankful for what we have and what we’re still able to achieve, even with a handicap.
Many more travels are still to come and there are especially two things, which I will keep in mind: Enjoy as much as you can and don’t let anything ruin your trip, and be careful when jumping over a rock next time
Don’t cry because it’s over, smile because it happened.
Also I’m interested in your opinion about this blog post. Did you like it? Do you like to see more content like this? Or what could be better? Any feedback is very welcome.