About
I decided to write a series of posts recapping a transformational time period for me. My intent is to share what happened to me, what I did about it, and how you may be able to incorporate some of what worked for me into your own life.
Why? I believe if you do, given the results I’ve experienced already, that you too can be on the path to living a life well-lived.
My Story
It was August 8, 2024, eight months ago, when I collapsed.
I had met up with friends to play pickleball that morning. I wasn’t crazy about playing. We played racquetball together once a week on Tuesdays. I also played Sunday morning and occasionally a third or fourth time during the week.
It was summertime and the weather was nice. Typical August, hot, humid, and that day happened to be sunny as well. After we got done playing I headed home and cleaned up.
A friend of mine, Erin Kelly, was performing at Bethlehem’s Musikfest that day and her show was around 12:30. I drove over parked and got there a little early. I had brought my Musikfest mug and got a beer for the show. She was performing in a tented area on the north Bethlehem side of the river.
I got a front and center seat. Her mom asked if I could take some pictures to share with her and I was glad to do it to help out. I’d known Erin since she first started playing guitar and it was great seeing her grow into the professional she had become.
After her show I headed for my car. I had about half to three quarters of the beer and dumped the rest as I would be walking on public streets to my car.
As I went up the hill I noticed I was feeling very tired, weak in the legs. I kept going and finally got to a point I decided I’d sit down just for a minute to collect myself. After a few minutes I tried to get up and I couldn’t.
I rolled to my belly and tried to push myself up and couldn’t do that either. I tried hard and shredded my arm in the process. I rolled back over to a sitting position.
I was fortunate. A couple came by and asked if I needed help. Of course I said no. I tried to play it off. The guy said I didn’t look right and he was calling the ambulance.
It was a good thing he did. I was in the hospital for about five hours getting IV’s. They said I probably had either heat exhaustion or a heat stroke. They were seeing a lot of it that day from people who were at the festival, especially in the tents where the sun was blocked but heat was trapped inside.
My mom and brother picked me up. We were all supposed to go to dinner that night with friends.
Well, things changed. More than I ever would have expected.
Lesson Learned
On that day, regardless of what would follow, I learned a big lesson. Well, more than one.
First, I had to do a better job of listening to my body.
Second, I had to be thankful for the help offered to me, even if I didn’t want to accept it at the time. I wish I knew who they were to be able to thank them.
A Question to Consider
I actually have two key questions for you to consider:
- Do you listen to your body and act accordingly or do you try to ‘push’ through it?
- Will you accept help from strangers, particularly when it is related to advice for you and you are aware something isn’t right with you, but you’re not quite sure what or to what extent?
Preview
In my next post, TRSS 2: It Wasn’t Just the Trigger, I’m going to take a further step back in time to May of 2022 when I filed for divorce.
While landing in the hospital was the trigger to actively start changing how I was living and approaching life, I had been thinking about it for roughly ten years. In hindsight, I waited too long.
Resilient Seeker Coaching | Ross Raymond Nunamaker 