Archery For The Win

Sara and I have been wanting to try Archery for years and never had the time to do a beginners course, so we kept putting it off.  This year was a little different.  We found that we were able to take time to spend the time!

We both wanted a challenge that would benefit our health and something we could do on our own as well as a couple.  I was always used to team games and sports where people would work together, but we decided we wanted something for ourselves to achieve and do this off our own backs without help from others.

So we decided to sign up and do the beginners course in June, which lasted for 3 weeks.  We thought  at the time that we would be rubbish at it, as the targets seemed such a long way away, but were just at 20 yards at this stage.  We meet with everyone and were shown the ropes and had great help from our tutor Ray, along with all the others at the club.  With a few laughs thrown in along the way, we felt so at home and maybe for the first time in a long time we were happy.

At the end of the course we had a small shoot out competition, where I got first place out of the men.  I was so happy to have won this, as it was the first thing I have ever won on my own for myself.  Sara said we should carry on with archery and we decided to join the club.  We were able to use the clubs equipment for a while which was nice, but then we decided to get our own bows and equipment and now we are kitted out.  Yay!

 

We have gone on to achieve white, green and black badges within the club competitions,  and we hope to have just achieved our national 3rd class ranking.  All this in just a few months.  People at the club say we are doing great and they encourage us every time we go, which boosts our confidence.
 

 I would recommend Archery to any one out there it is great fun and you may think it looks boring, but there is so much to learn and achieve if you just try.

Take care and have fun.

Jase

Capturing A Sunrise

Often in our every day lives we get stuck in a rut and feel like our life is not our own, due to work and family commitments, and sometimes we can be doing the same thing over and over again, without having a chance to recharge our batteries.  We do things so fast that we fail to notice the beauty in everyday things that are all around us, and we ignore our feelings and those of the people around us too.  I have often found that I just didn’t have the time to relax.  Many people were telling me to slow down and relax and chill out, but to me I was just doing things as normal and just carried on, failing to notice the tell-tale signs of my body getting tired.

This was all until the day my life changed totally, and I came back down to earth with a massive bump, and realised I was not indestructible any more and I could break!  Most of my life I have been in good health and have had few accidents, but this was the start of something big for me.

I used to do medieval sword fighting for about 15 years or so, and I was practicing for a festival and slipped on some mud.  It all happened in just a few seconds.  My leg snapped out away from me at a right angle, and I heard a loud snap and fell in great pain to the floor.  I then swore for a few seconds and then I guess I felt nothing.  I looked at my leg and decided to try to put it back, along with my knee cap.  Now I am no expert, but I did manage to put things back quite well and then everything started to swell as I sat on the floor.  My friends were all looking at me as if I was messing around, but my wife Sara, knew I had actually hurt myself.  We were in the middle of some woods and I could not be moved, as our first aider said it was best to stay still, even though I still thought I could walk and get back to the car park.  Who was I trying to kid?

The ambulance staff arrived about a hour after my accident and rushed me off to hospital where I was given gas and air while they moved my leg about and x-rayed it.  Ouch!  The gas and air didn’t seem to work very well.  I left the hospital a while after on crutches, with a leg brace to keep it all still and safe.  My knee was the size of a small football and my ankle was the size of a tennis ball.  I had to then wait until the swelling went down before going to have a MRI scan to see what damage I had done.  The results were worse than I thought.  I thought I would be off work for a few weeks, but I did not return back to work for over 10 months.  It turned out that I had a patella dislocation and fracture, ACL and MCL ruptures, a sprained ankle and nerve damage.  I had to learn to walk again and build my leg muscles back up, as they had wasted away because I could not walk for months.  I had so much pain and discomfort and had many challenges to overcome, but I remember watching summer go by out of my window and wishing I could be out there in the sun, or even in the rain.  

I thought I would never walk again.  But I did my physiotherapy and hydrotherapy, and got stronger, and now I can walk again and enjoy the sun and rain once more.  I still get pain and swelling, but I am just happy to be able to walk and do some of the normal things I used to do.  However, I can’t do all of the things I did before and can no longer do the sword fighting.

One thing I am able to do is one of my most favourite things, and that is camping and survival training.  I have been able to take people to Wales and show them how to do simple things, like lighting fires, identifying wild foods and how to survive in the wild, and it gives me a great sense of wellbeing and peace.  I have been interested camping and survival, and have been visiting the beautiful landscapes of Wales, since I was 12 years of age, and every time I go out there, I feel free and my life slows down again.  I recently went over with friends and set off early in the morning on my own as they had decided to stay in bed.  I wanted to capture a sunrise and I sat and ate porridge and drank tea and felt the warmth of the sun on my face once again.  This was my first real hike since my injury, and made me feel I had completed a great challenge.  I remember feeling that I was glad to be alive and despite my injury, I had made it and life was great.  Maybe by reading this, it will get you thinking about your life, and how you can slow down and relax, and notice the beauty around you, and avoid an injury!

My life had changed so much.  I have lost friends and made new ones, and I have started new hobbies and became closer to the people I love, and I fell in love with my wife all over again.  So don’t wait until you have the time to look around you.  Stop now and act to appreciate what you have and those close to you, and how you can make life better for yourself.

Hugs

Jason