Verb: undergo or cause to undergo a process or period of transition.
Noun: the process or period of changing from one state or condition to another.
I've just spent the past two years in both the verb and noun sense of this powerful word. Just a little over two years ago, I experienced probably the worst accident of my life. It took me a very long time to recover from the elbow replacement surgery. During that recovery, my foot started acting up. Eventually, the pain derailed me until I could have surgery. After a long two years of rehabilitation, I think I have finally transitioned. I have successfully moved from one condition to another. I am no longer "recovering". I am now "training". Oh, what a feeling that is. I haven't felt this way since the week right before I broke my arm. I am over it. Done with it. Moving on.
I learned so much about myself, my body, my psyche, my callings, my friends, my family, my goals, my loves, my fears, my life. I feel I have successfully incorporated these experiences gained to create my new reality. I am still learning what it is to be human. What a fantastic feeling it is to wake up in this body, and feel strong again, especially as I close out the decade I call my "fifties".
It's been nearly six years since I crossed that finish line in Kona at 10:59 p.m., hearing the announcer say "Shawna Barlette, you are an Ironman". That experience changed me forever. The mantra "Anything is Possible" is embodied within me until I pass this earth. It is what has sustained me and kept me driving forward in my recovery. For all of us who face challenges daily, be it minor or major, keep this thought at the forefront of your life. Anything is Possible. Anything. Ask me, I will go on and on and on about this incredibly powerful idea, and how each and everyone one of us has it within ourselves to actualize on it, and move mountains.
