Why you should never give up on your dreams

I want to remind you why you should never give up on your dreams.  You will notice that this video is extremely personal and not something I talk about publically very much, but I do have a story to tell…  You may remember this post which, up to now, has been the only time I’ve spoken about it before.  Three years ago I had a stroke.  I was in the first few months of my articles as a candidate attorney at the time.  The stroke was caused by a clot in my left temporal lobe which was the same size as a golf ball.  In the aftermath of the stroke, I couldn’t read, battled to talk and struggled terribly with memory.  It would often get to the point where my entire body would shut down from fatigue and my dad and Ryan had to help me get up the stairs and into bed.  As I mentioned in the video, I was off work for 8 months and when I returned I was only able to work for three to four hours per day.  What I didn’t mention was that the full recovery process took 18 months of rehab with my occupational therapists, speech therapist, a neuropsychologist and many appointments with neurologists and my physician.  I even needed to retake my driving test.

The whole process was terrifying for my friends and family.  Initially, the prospects did not look good at all and we didn’t know what the future held.  Luckily for me, someone upstairs was looking out for me and gave me the strength to make a full recovery.  It was a really difficult time but I preserved through all the hurdles and challenges that lay before me.  I was so embarrassed about what had happened to me for a long time.  I was worried that I would be viewed as weak.  Only now do I realise that the total opposite is true.  I am a survivor.  I fought through the tremendous difficulties and I won.  I conquered my stroke and I recovered.  I went on to write my board exams, pass first time around, complete my articles and be admitted as an attorney of the High Court of South Africa.  Since filming this video, I have also gone on to write and pass the Notary Public exam which I now can proudly add to my list of goals I’ve attained after working extremely hard to conquer this huge medical set back.

I am not sharing my story for sympathy.  Instead, I thought that many people suffer so many different challenges and I wanted to share my story to inspire you to believe in yourself, work through them and reach your end goal.  Anything is possible with determination, hard work and an incredible support structure.  I hope this story gives you a glimmer of hope and lights a fire inside of you to never give up on your dreams.  I’m sending you so much love and encouragement to accomplish all of them.