G’day, friends and welcome back to another week and another post!
Given the heartbreaking and unfortunate circumstances last week, I didn’t get around to filling you all in on my little girls trip with my lovely mum!
Last time we spoke about it I was incredibly anxious about the trip and was almost about to pull out. The anxiety got that bad!
But I knew I would regret it and beat myself up if I let that Negative Nancy voice in the back of my head win! So I packed a bag, and Mum and I set off on our girls trip!
Where did we go you may ask? Well, we went to Coolangatta on the Gold Coast; it’s down the quieter end of the coast and right on the QLD and NSW border!
We left early in the morning, even though it was a 2-and-a-half-hour drive from our place; we wanted to spend as much time as possible on the coast as we were only there for two full days.
I won’t bore you with all the details of what we got up to while we were there, because to be honest, it was raining almost the entire time, so a lot of good food was consumed and many moments rolling around with laughter.
We lashed out and booked a 2 bedroom sub-penthouse for our stay, which was incredible! We stayed at Nirvana By the Sea, and I adored our room, and the place.
The room was spacious, enough to fit several wheelchairs in, with a wide entry door, and a large kitchen. The room wasn’t designed to be wheelchair friendly, so the showers aren’t wide enough to accommodate shower chairs, unfortunately, but everywhere else is amazing. We were also lucky enough to have our own private pool! On the website, it said it was accessible by life… That was half true, but I was a clever monkey and googled earthed the place and saw stairs on the roof. I emailed before our visit to check about stairs, and they did confirm there were about 9 steps to get to our pool area.
Imagine had I not emailed ahead to check about this! If you have been following this blog for a while, you know that me and stairs are like orange juice and milk; we don’t get along. But Mum and I were determined to get me to the pool area, and we managed to get up there, which I am so grateful for!
The aim of our trip away wasn’t just to master the stairs; it was to recharge the batteries before the silly season, and indeed a new year, began and to do a little exploring.
And explore we did! We ended up going to Mt Tamborine before heading home. The Gallery walk is absolutely incredible and full of so much character! We spent a good 2 hours there going into as many shops as we could. Unfortunately not the most accessible place, I was counting my blessings that I could still walk and was able to experience as much of it as I could.
I can’t speak for mummy dearest, but for me, this trip was just what the doctor ordered.
Was my anxiety ultimately at bay? Not at all. It was a real struggle to sit and enjoy myself without freaking out. Sadly, the little voices did take over a few times, but I did have moments where I was completely okay.
I was determined to have a great time on our girls trip despite my head screaming at me.
So many times before I would run whenever those voices would try to convince me something was going to happen. But this time, I pretty much flicked those voices the bird and had a great time away with mummy dearest, and proved to myself that I can push through that voice in my head, and that not only will I refuse to let my body stop me from going on a great adventure, but I also refuse to allow my anxiety get in the way of living the life that I truly want.
Shaking off anxiety is never easy, and I know that I will live with it forever, it’s almost like a side effect to disability life. But it doesn’t control me anymore.
Losing Milly 4 days after we got home also confirmed that to me. After she passed, all my fears and anxieties went out the window. I went for long drives in my scooter in the days that followed, which is something my anxiety didn’t allow me to do for years. Since the trip and Milly, it’s almost like nothing scares me anymore, and I am just tired of being controlled by that voice in my head.
I believe everything that happened this entire year was the catalyst for learning how to push through anxiety, and it just had to come to a head on the girls trip.
I am so grateful for the opportunity to go away for those few days and for all the lessons and lifelong memories it has given both me and my mum. Safe to say an annual girls trip will be on the cards from here on in! Hopefully with just less anxiety!
Till the next one,
Rhi.