Sometimes even warriors need help to re-discover that positive charge

Positive mental attitude is something I talk about a lot in terms of stroke rehabilitation: if you don't believe you'll improve and keep improving, then you won't. If you do, you will. And if you don't do something about it, you certainly won't.

And part of the thinking behind calling this blog 'The Warrior' was to reflect that desire for positive mental attitude. Warriors don't stop fighting, do they?

This week, however, I've struggled to live up to my own words. Domestic life has been stressful for various reasons and some home-improvement work has massively disrupted the normal daily schedule of life at Warrillow Towers.

The first really cold spell of the winter hasn't helped; warriors aren't supposed to sit inside their castles with thick thermal gloves on and wearing two jumpers because they are freezing cold. But being outside in the cold, wind and rain isn't good for me, my blood-thinning tablets make me feel cold anyway and someone needed to be in the house to supervise the home improvements.

So by Monday evening, this particular warrior was seriously lacking in PMA. But as always, my fellow college students in counselling skills acted as a sounding-board for me to let off steam and a brutal session in the gym on Tuesday with #‎breathebalancebeactivated‬Emily left me realising just how far I have come since December 16 2013; after all, focusing on what you can do, not what you can't do, is the definition of PMA, isn't it? 

Tuesday evening, however, saw another setback. The gym session wore me out more than I had imagined and I let it trouble me; which brought bad thoughts to the fore about our ongoing financial difficulties and my own future in general. I needed a boost and this morning (Wednesday) I got one; well, two, in fact. First, my good friend Mel Eves, who some of you may remember from his previous life as a professional footballer in the 1970's and '80's with Wolverhampton Wanderers, came to visit me at Warrillow Towers. Mel is an expert in sports performance and on the need for elite sportsmen to be 'in the zone' when they are performing. Positive mental attitude is key and if you are interested, I recommend you check out his website at www.wellnesswizard.co.uk. 

An hour with Mel, working on my mental approach to my thoughts and life in general, lifted my mood. Then, I had a visit from a networking friend, Amanda Goldston. To quote a testimonial I read about her recently, Amanda is the ''MAD Woman of MAD Woman Academy helping Magnificent, Awesome, Daring Women to clear away blocks to money." She talks to men, as well, I'm pleased to say and she was visiting to deliver some relaxation tapes which I am hoping can be used to help fellow stroke-survivors. 

But we also began talking about a project for which she volunteers called Walking For Health (walkingforhealth.org.uk). Run by the Ramblers and Macmillan Cancer Support, it provides thousands of walks of varying degrees of difficulty to help people improve their health. There are several free walks (the magic word there is free, lol....) within a few miles of Warrillow Towers and I may well try one soon. When and if, I do, you can be sure I'll blog about it. And I go into the next seven days with a much more positive attitude.