A Truly Astonishing Week - Part 1...Micka!!!

A Turning Point In My Life....

There are moments in my life that have caused me to feel pure and unadulterated delight. The delight a child feels on Christmas morning, the pure happiness and glee that lights up their eyes and makes them talk about it for days, weeks, years to come. Finally delivering Lucy into the world was pure delight. Hearing Greg say he wanted to spend the rest of his life with me, pure delight. Hearing that my best friend had come through a risky surgery with flying colours and to later hear that they had got all the tumour...PURE DELIGHT!

These precious moments have been far outweighed though, by moments of insecurity, fear and embarrassment. And I could spend the rest of this week talking about all of those moments, because there is always one more story about how I was too scared to try something new, too afraid to hurt myself and too embarrassed to look like a clumsy idiot. But I won't.

Because I have delicious stories of pure delight to share with you this week! Stories that I will hold dear to my heart forever for many reasons! Tales of bravery and success beyond my own belief (albeit possibly within your belief!) and of support and encouragement like no other.

And I don't quite no where to start....or how to write it up. So I want to begin by telling you about my good friend Micka who I have known for 10 years now. Micka and I have always gotten on well and laughed our way through many a conversation together, we have a lot in common. He is a musical genius on the drums and has a great singing voice too. He is also my recent inspiration...he has lost approx 30kgs and changed his whole lifestyle very successfully to become what he wants it to be. A healthy, active life full of activities for him and his family, a well balanced career and he still seems to have time to encourage me in my own challenge to achieve the same. And not just me. It's in his nature to help and encourage everyone! So if you can't tell, I love this man - he is a dear friend and I feel like sharing a little praise. For my holiday, I consider Micka to be my personal trainer #1.

Now, do you realise how far it is to Mildura...when most of the Riverina is in flood? It took us two days of good solid driving with three babies plus three boys in four different cars but we finally got there. And it was like summer! The weather was hot, the water was beautiful, the houseboats were lovely and the flood waters wouldn't be arriving until we were long gone. So it was time to play! I was ready to try the Stand Up Paddle Board.

Oh but hold on...that isn't what happened first! I forgot to mention that during Micka's amazing personal transformation he had learnt a barefoot running technique that he wanted to show me, because I had been asking for tips in increasing my jogging endurance. Now, it is important to mention that on day one of our trip I dropped that final feed with Lucy and stopped breastfeeding completely. So by the 2nd day of our trip, the last thing I felt like doing was give them a good shake up. But he convinced me it'd be worth my while and so I did something I never thought I would ever do. I put on my joggers (and my jogging bra!) and we went up onto the bank where he had a look at my running technique (70 yr old shuffle) and we worked on it for five or ten minutes. And people on both my boat and Micka's were watching us as they fished off the back. And I DIDN'T CARE! I was more interested in getting help to further my capabilities than to worry about anything they might be thinking. But if I was a fly on the wall, I bet everything they were saying was only positive, because that is who my family and friends are.

On the 4th day, Micka and I finally found a time that was convenient for me to give the Stand Up Paddle board a go - and I have some very unglamourous pics to prove it! His wife and my good friend, the beautiful Mon is a bit of a fancy photographer, so I employed her as my official blog photographer for the week so I could report back in accurate style. Now, I can tell you I'm sure it felt way more graceful than what you will see here, but I am friggin proud of myself for giving it a great shot on my first go, getting up on the board with Micka's assistance and paddling down the river and back most of the way...until I fell off again! I certainly got wet...and there was a great deal of laughter. But man, I am just so proud of myself for achieving goal number one and actually being better than I thought I would be at it!

So the rest is history...but fortunately I have pictures for you! I hope they bring you pure delight too! And yes, I realise they aren't the most attractive pics of me, but you know what...I do not care. For they are here to share with you a pivotal moment in my life, and one of the most enjoyable experiences of my holiday! Thanks Mick and Mon for such a fun moment in time!

A little bank tuition beforehand always helps, Mon thinks I got way more info than she did on her first go, but I told her that is probably because he was more concerned with my ability than hers ;)

 

So I asked him to give me a demo of how to do it...this doesn't look like a fake fall at all!

 

 

Here I am feeling very safe and secure on the board, like every other time I've been on a board (never!), ready to give this a good shot! Eeeeeek! 

 

 

And off I go, after paddling a little way on my tummy, I managed to scoot myself up onto my knees. Now, even that is quite difficult you know, your every tiny move sends the board rocking this way and that way, so every action requires a counter balance and deep concentration. Paddle paddle paddle.

 

Deep concentration.... or a deep fall into the might Murray River!!! Whoops! Hehehe! I have never laughed so hard trying to do something. I didn't feel stupid once, just laughed it off and tried again. Let me tell you, to the first time I tried to get back onto the board, I thought it was over before it began. I could hardly lift myself up onto it, but I got it eventually, and it got easier and easier the more often I did it.

 

Hehehehe, oops, sorry Micka! Although, I told you he has been working out. LOL! Use the force Loz!  

 

ALRIGHT! Let's try getting up onto my feet, shuffle shuffle shuffle, remember to counter balance and stay steady......

 

 

Whoops! And she's in again. Face plant into the Murray.

 

 

Hold on a second, I was standing a minute a go....and now I'm on my butt!!!

 

 

It was a laugh a minute at this point! Into the drink I go again!

 

 

Micka offers a lifeline just as I was getting weary from all my falling, and helps me stand while he holds the board to allow me to get my balance on my feet.  

 

And I'm OFF!!! And just as Micka promised, the fast you are going the easier it is to stay balanced....like a bike. It is the best feeling paddling away downstream, but man you use all the muscles in your whole body every single second of the time you are up. You are constantly balancing, overbalancing, righting yourself and doing it all again. Talk about an intensive yet fun workout!  

 

Wooohooooooooooooo! Look at me go! I was yelling all the time by this point, cheering myself on and loving it! 

 

That's our houseboats on the side, I even let go of the paddle with one hand to wave to Lucy when she and Greg came out to cheer me on from the back deck with all my other buddies too.

 

 

Oh there are our houseboats...and the paddle board. Hmmmm, I am just out of this shot after stacking it again.

 

And one for the camera!?

And to finish the event in perfect style, grace and poise! So much fun and so pleased I tried it, event though I wasn't sure I'd be able to do it. I surprised myself and a few others and was so excited by the whole experience that it taught me to just give things a go, you never know what you might be capable of. 

Ciao for now!
LG, Life's Great!