I faced my fear and spoke at the “We Can and We Will” event on the 6th March. I had butterflies in my stomach all day and I couldn’t really concentrate on much. But I felt ready to do this!
So here I am sharing my story.
When I was twenty one, I had an accident. I fell out an upstairs window and broke my back. My world was turned upside down.
I was studying Graphic Design in Limerick School of Art and Design at the time. I was well settled into my third year there, had a great bunch of friends, loved my independence, so this accident threw a huge spanner in the works. It put a hault on everything.
I was rushed to the Mater hospital in Dublin. I’m reminded of a conversation I had with my doctor at the time, he told me that the bone was 1mm from cutting the spinal cord. I was 1mm from being paralysed.
The operation was a success, I had metal rods fitted into my back and also had to wear a plaster paris torso support for six months. I took the year out college and moved back to Waterford with my parents. My sister Deb joined us a couple of months later to help with my recovery.
Everyone told me how lucky I was, that my guardian angels were watching over me that night. Now I know how lucky I was. But at the time I felt, sad, angry, forgotten about as college life continued for my friends.
The basic things in life, I had to learn how to do all over again. I had to learn how to walk again, even putting on my shoes was a struggle, I felt like an eighty year old woman trying to do this by having to use a shoe horn to do so. My Mam bought this nurse’s aid apparatus for washing my hair. I would lie on my bed, she would wash my hair, I would unzip my torso support and she would roll me over to wash my back. Because, I couldn’t take this off to have a shower.
But after six months it came off! I was able to wash my own hair and wear fitted clothes again. I threw myself into exercise. I remember saying “whatever it takes to make myself strong and healthy again, I will do it”. My therapy was swimming, I swam, I swam and I swam.
I built myself back up. I went back to college and was awarded an honours degree. A few years later, I went on to set up my own brand and graphic design business Treetop Studio.
The accident changed me, it made me grow up. But it also showed me how strong and determined I am. I found this inner strength I had, that I never knew I had.
So I would encourage you to look at life’s obstacles as lessons. What can you learn from them? But don’t let them get in the way of achieving your goals.
Surprisingly, I actually felt calm and composed delivering my talk. I got lots of really positive feedback afterwards. Different people came up to me and told me how they could relate and that the ending message resonated with them. I felt great, proud that I had done this and put the tips I learned from Gerry’s workshop into practice.
My brand represents growth, my own growth but also growth for my clients. By participating at the Gerry Duffy speaker school and going on to speak at an event like this, these may seem like small steps, but they are steps in the right direction. I want to share my knowledge, host brand workshops, speak at business events etc., because I know I have value to offer. So it’s onwards and upwards from here!
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Below with my fab speaker school group, who each delivered an impressive talk.
Great speech Aisling well done! A big step in the right direction!