Change when we don’t see it!

G’day everyone and welcome to another week and another blog! Welcome to all the new folk, and welcome back to those who have been here before!

A few weeks ago, me and my family went on a little day trip to the Gold Coast. We love our day trips to the beach and spending time together as a family. Everywhere we go is accessible, fun, and makes for a perfect day.

A birds eye shot of my breakfast when we went on a day trip. Eggs Benedict on English muffins with avo and smoked salmon and a yummy juice blend in a glass jug in the top left hand sand

We started with breakfast at one of our favourite Cafes, Cruize Espresso in Labrador, followed by a bit of shopping at, I believe, one of the best shopping centres, Pacific Fair, and had an Iced tea from Starbucks overlooking the ocean for an hour, and finally, we wrapped up the day with some Top Golf.

I have never been good at golf. My hips are too tight, my arms too weak and being on my tip toes means my balance is off so getting a good swing on the Golf Club is close to impossible without hitting the deck and smashing my nose on the concrete. So when I hit the ball, I struggle to get any air time on it, and it rarely travels far. Safe to say I am no Tiger Woods!

This wasn’t my first time at Top Golf. I have been there a few times before, and I have had an absolute blast each time. It’s accessible, the disabled bathrooms are massive, and the food is fantastic. It’s a top-notch atmosphere.

A pink iced tea from Starbucks siting on a wooden ledge overlooking the ocean

On our way home, Mum randomly said to me, ‘do you remember when we first went to top golf, you struggled even to make the closest red flag, and couldn’t make the yellow flag, but tonight you pretty much consistently made the yellow and almost reached the blue?’.

I initially argued with her, saying I could always hit the yellow, but as I sat with it more, I realised she was right!

When I first went to top golf, I struggled physically. I tried my best to hide it, as I didn’t want my family to feel perhaps guilty that they had chosen an activity that I couldn’t do easily. I have played enough games of Poker after dinner with my family to know that my poker face is absolutely horrendous. So there is no doubt that my family could see straight through the facade.

It had been years since I held a golf club, and I felt so unbalanced and awkward that I struggled to get any distance on my ball. The clubs felt reasonably heavy, and given I have the hip mobility of an 80-year-old (I even think that isn’t very kind to 80-year-olds), each swing took more and more energy. Nonetheless, I still had a great time!

This time around, my first thought when I picked up the driver was, ‘Man this feels insanely light!’. And my swing had more of a follow-through thing time. The hips were still average, but I felt more stable and, as a result, got more distance on the ball. Sure, my swings still got pretty rough at the end of the session, but that is to be expected when you have Muscular Dystrophy. The muscles will always get tired quickly, but you learn to adapt, so I didn’t mind having pretty poor swings! I was just grateful I could still hit a golf ball! Most importantly though, I still had a great time! And yes I continuously whispered apologies to everyone in the bay directly below us every time my ball went straight through the mesh.

me back in april getting reading to hit a golf ball at Top Golf. I am wearing black exercise pants, white pink and grey jumper, white shoes and my hair is pulled up
When I went to top golf back in April!

But the point of me telling you all this was that after Mum said to me about my increased distance in my swings, I spent some time reflecting on how sometimes change is easily invisible to you but so visible to others.

Even when you don’t feel it, change it there. We are constantly evolving mentally, physically, emotionally and spiritually.

For me the most constant change is physical. Growing up I was told that my strength would continue to decline and that seeing an improvement would be nearly impossible.

However, I love achieving the impossible. But I didn’t realise I had taken a step closer to that achievement until my lovely mum pointed out my drastic improvement in hitting a ball with a stick!

Heading to the gym week in and week out, busting your backside in your workouts, and trying to eat relatively well can seem like a never-ending chore (if you don’t love it!), or you wonder whether all that hard work in and out of the gym was going to pay any dividends, other than feeling good from a mental health standpoint.

My work in the gym is slowly starting to show itself in mundane tasks, and I feel even more hopeful. It’s not about magically being cured one morning. Still, the optimism is about continuing to go places and do different things that I may otherwise struggle doing if I wasn’t as strong as I could be. It’s a grind that will hopefully continue to pay dividends and result in positive, lasting change!

a photo of me and my family after our round of top golf a couple of weeks ago. L to R: Mitchell, Mum, Dad, Me. The day when mum said she noticed a major change in my strength hitting the golf balls.
Most recent Top Golf trip!

Change can be good, and not be so good. Only some have the luxury of the change being good. But isn’t that the ebb and flow of life?

And to be completely honest with you, I think it is so easy to get so caught up in the day-to-day grind, that we don’t just stop and acknowledge how far we have come, but even then, would that have helped me to see that there was a pretty decent physical change in hitting a golf ball without someone pointing it out to me? Probably not.

Honestly though, change is something I am used to; it’s almost become my middle name. I am used to it; it rarely surprises me any more… Unless the change involves hitting a ball with a stick. Then yeah, it still finds ways to amaze me. And I am so here for it! So for now, I am continuing to remind myself to celebrate the small wins and the small changes, because they all add up to creating something amazing one way or another!

Till the next one!

Rhi

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.