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Sideways
VIP Member
I thought for a long time that I needed my recovery path to lead back to where I was before I got sick. I thought that I needed to get back to law.
Over the course of this year though, I’ve been helping out with classes run by the organisation that helped train my Assistance Dog. I’ve been training dogs since I was 13, so originally it was just a way to help out and give back to this awesome charity that changed my life.
After a year just going along to help out, the organisation has now officially included me as part of the training team. Wearing one of their shirts for the first time as a recognised trainer I couldn’t wipe the smile off my face (and that hasn’t happened for a reeeally long time)! So many people that have gone through the program seem so incredibly grateful to me for the particular support that I gave them as they went through the training program. I routinely end up with someone crying on my shoulder with happiness about how I’ve (apparently!) helped them with their own recovery journey.
I’m now looking at trying to find the funds to do a formal qualification (my self-confidence would definitely improve if I felt like I had a piece of paper to formally say “She knows what she’s doing”!). And there’s been this glimmer of hope kind of hanging around my apartment each day - this is real. This is a future. This is something that isn’t just important to me, but people actually seem to think I’m good at.
Life takes weird turns. I would never have thought of this as where my future was headed. But...I’m actually feeling a little bit good about it. I’m actually feeling like maybe I have something genuinely positive to offer the world. Like...omg! Yay!!!!
Over the course of this year though, I’ve been helping out with classes run by the organisation that helped train my Assistance Dog. I’ve been training dogs since I was 13, so originally it was just a way to help out and give back to this awesome charity that changed my life.
After a year just going along to help out, the organisation has now officially included me as part of the training team. Wearing one of their shirts for the first time as a recognised trainer I couldn’t wipe the smile off my face (and that hasn’t happened for a reeeally long time)! So many people that have gone through the program seem so incredibly grateful to me for the particular support that I gave them as they went through the training program. I routinely end up with someone crying on my shoulder with happiness about how I’ve (apparently!) helped them with their own recovery journey.
I’m now looking at trying to find the funds to do a formal qualification (my self-confidence would definitely improve if I felt like I had a piece of paper to formally say “She knows what she’s doing”!). And there’s been this glimmer of hope kind of hanging around my apartment each day - this is real. This is a future. This is something that isn’t just important to me, but people actually seem to think I’m good at.
Life takes weird turns. I would never have thought of this as where my future was headed. But...I’m actually feeling a little bit good about it. I’m actually feeling like maybe I have something genuinely positive to offer the world. Like...omg! Yay!!!!
