Over a Decade ago

Probably due to the fact that I try and post loads of dog photos on the business social media I rarely check in on my private profile accounts.

When I did, by chance, login just over one week ago I got a little reminder.

You see just over 10 years ago I had a pretty serious knee operation and I was lying in hospital. The date of the operation normally escapes my memory however the day after the operation I was due to attend a wedding here in Oslo and also a good friend from the UK got married that very same day.

Upon logging in to Facebook I saw the 10-year anniversary posts from both couples who are still going strong.

I remember lying in hospital still under the influence of some pretty good morphine and writing “congratulations” to both couples on two sheets of paper.

I might have not been able to attend the weddings physically but I wanted to pass on my best wishes.

Having, at a later date, found those very photos which I took, I must say it probably came as more of a scare to my friends than as a positive message of love.

The operation and the rehab which followed are always a bitter-sweet memory of that period of my life.

Septicemia in my left knee and 14 weeks on crutches, a mountain of stress and uncertainty with regards to my dog walking business which was only 18 months old at the time, a close family member dying suddenly and the breakdown of the relationship with my ex… all in the space of 2 months.

Sometimes the light at the end of the tunnel seems oh so far away. You have 100 reasons to give up and only a few to stick with it and come back stronger.

But I literally had unfinished business.

For nearly 3 years every other step I took caused pain. To put that in context as a dog walker I was having a pang of pain between 8-12000 times a day. It is amazing what the mind can get used to and overcome.

Sometimes the pain of regret and quitting will be much more than the temporary pain of a situation.

I still feel everyday that I made the right choice.

Doggies: Kuling, Palo, Aya, Trassel, Lucille, Sonja and Henie