101 GUEST BLOG # 2 – BUMBLEBEE GIRL ON MISSION POSSIBLE
Foreword by Greig –
I’ve met some pretty incredible people on this little journey of mine and Christina is no exception.
When she first messaged me I was in absolute awe of her challenging and inspiring life story.
She asked to meet me whilst she was visiting London from her home in Norway last summer and we had a great afternoon together. I was immediately captivated by her warm smile and her passionate and optimistic outlook on life. She also came over to the UK for our 101 gathering on Richmond hill which was such an honour.
She is one of the most inspiring and beautiful people I have ever met and I am so honoured she has shared her amazing story with us.
Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the Bumblebee Girl.
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BUMBLEBEE GIRL ON MISSION POSSIBLE
My story started when I was born underweight, hardly any vision and suffering with dyspraxia. Through my childhood I’ve kept physically active to gain body control. I have motor/sensory dyspraxia and i’m therefore hypersensitive to all chemicals which often will trigger a toxic reaction in some degree. It also has caused major food intolerances and allergies.
Dyspraxia is a name covering for a lot of different things all connected to an underdeveloped nerve system – in short nerve signals are disrupted between the brain and the body. For each person it’s a different experience. F.ex.: the actor playing Harry Potter can’t tie shoelaces. I need to concentrate when I eat or else the food ends up in the air pipe but I can run, jump etc. and look like a “normal” person.
On the plus side I live healthily, exercise and get enough sleep. Besides that I’m used to working hard for what I want and if I fall I get up and try again. I don’t listen to people and experts telling me what is impossible, instead I find ways to make it possible. I’ve done so much stuff now that the experts told me was impossible, sometimes it just take a little longer. It’s all in the mind – if you believe there is always a solution. Like I want to learn to surf but I need to become stronger and get a better balance. Since I returned from Australia (feb 2015) I have worked every week with a personal trainer to help me achieve this.
I didn’t have many problems with the dyspraxia until April 2011 when I woke up and lost the ability to sit, walk etc. A flue virus had damaged large parts of my nervesystem and I had to go through rehab.
I was lucky though because I didn’t end up in a wheel chair like others. What happened to me was that I got my fighter instinct going because nobody should tell me that I wouldn’t be able to do what I want to, so to create the best healing environment I quit watching the news and in general programs and film with a negative focus. My husband ordered a load of feel-good movies and I watched Bondi Rescue over and over again because their work inspires me so much. We created a happy bubble around me with positive people etc.
I had my own business where I worked with self-development so things like laws of attraction, vision-boards, positive thinking, gratitude etc. was a integrated as part of my life. I even made a happy-list – yes a happy-list – it contains things that makes me happy when I have the blues, all from taking a hot bath, dancing around in my PJ singing loudly to feel-good music, drink a cup of cacao to the expensive stuff.
August 2011 I walked 4 km to raise money for research in heart diseases – major victory and also a big thank you to my very unconventional physiotherapist. All this was only the start on a major life change. Sadly, I had to close my business because of the EU crises, move to another country where I feel so misplaced, close to homeless, divorced, lost the rest of my close relatives etc. The weirdest part is that I’m so grateful for every thing I’ve been through because it has made me who I’m today. For the first time in my life I’m free and it’s so scary but I’m following my dreams now and that keeps me going too. Like in January 2015 where I took my first real vacation since 1993 and I went to Australia and had a blast.
Every day is and will always be a challenge for me because after 2011 my dyspraxia has become more severe but I can work, I exercise and live an almost normal life. The most important thing for me is to keep a positive attitude and here I use my inspirations like Greig and the Bondi Lifeguards. Beside that I’ve now got an amazing network of supporters who accept me for who I am, like my step father, a few of my school mates and mates from life, my personal trainer Niklas Wintherbo, my surftrainer Dean Gladstone and the 101-gang. People from the 101- gang have become a very important part of my life because for the first time in my life I’ve met people that understand my way of thinking.
Greig came into my life in October 2014 when I had the shingles in my hip and wasn’t allowed to move. I was so fascinated and inspired from day one and Greig gave me new hope. I don’t believe in coincidences and I know that he came into my life for a reason. His story inspired me to quit my job and just take a major leap of faith.
I am now heading for Denmark to visit my stepfather and my best friend (haven’t seen her since 2011) and then I’ll visit England (hope to see you guys) and then I head for Australia and New Zealand.
My hope is to be allowed to make 2 type of speeches about “living with dyspraxia” and “following my dreams and creating the life I want to live”. Beside that I would love to find ways to do voluntary work/charity on the way.
In June I hope to honour my parents who both died of cancer. I want to take the same road-trip as my father did in the late 60es from San Fransisco to New York but I’ll like to do it on an ATV at the same time I would like to make it a charity event somehow so I can collect money for research in immunology treatment for cancer patients since my mother died from side effects of the chemo. How to do that is a mystery I’ve just started to look into.
After that I hope to be allowed to study english in Sydney or I will try to get a job in England.
The whole trip is named Bumblebeegirl On Mission Possible because bumblebees aren’t actually designed to fly, they just don’t know they can’t! ????
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You can follow Christina’s inspiring journey around the world via her Facebook page and her website:-
Facebook site: Bumblebeegirl on mission possible (https://www.facebook.com/bumblebeemission/)
Website: www.oceanofhappiness.org
#inspiration #dyspraxia