Busy Day

Spent a couple of hours at the beach today, I didn't plan on spending that much time there but I couldn't stop watching the Surf Life Savers. There was a bit of a wind today with temperatures around 31C so everyone was cooling off at the beach appreciative of the cool breeze coming off the ocean. Most people don't realise when there is a bit of wind there are some severe 'rips' in the ocean...there are quite a few people who learned that today!

Everyone is advised to swim within the flags, thats where the Life Savers patrol, but of course you get a smart ass, or two, who think that the warnings dont apply to them. There was a group of people who decided they wanted to swim out of the flagged area, the Surf Life Savers attracted their attention and advised them to swim within the flags, the group reluctantly wandered over to the flagged area but it wasn't long before they decided they wanted to body surf the big waves without a board.....we can all see what's coming, can't we? Yup, one of those idiots got caught in a rip and couldn't help himself, he was constantly pulled under and swept along underwater surfacing further out to sea. The group started panicking and yelling to the Life Savers for help, the Life Savers did what they had to do.....they are such strong swimmers.....they managed to get to the guy and bring him in, he was pretty shook up when he arrived back on the beach and somewhat embarrassed....those people should have to pay a fine for that as they were already warned, but thats not the way it goes unfortunately.

The Life savers were also dealing with little kids with their body boards who were drifting out of the flagged area and unable to get back in.

There were a few stingers around today, blown in from out at sea with the wind, and the Life Savers had to administer first aid to those people with stings. They had a busy day and I just lay there watching them......and burning in the sun, which I didn't realise until I got home and jumped in the shower!!

The Life Savers are volunteers, they run classes for kids to teach them to swim, they have the 'little nippers' club which is for young kids training to be Life savers. The majority of Life Savers are teenagers and young adults who donate their weekends to patrol the beaches. I witnessed first hand today what a great job they do and what fabulous bodies they have.....I might pop back to the beach tomorrow to see if they can help me with my sunburn!!!!!!!!

just think.......

Here I am in Moree NSW following up on referrals for therapy clients. I travelled down from the Sunshine Coast on Monday morning and it was a long trip, about 8 hours.

I have seen a few clients since I have been here, there certainly is a need for the therapy in this area. These small towns seem to miss out on a lot of services which the larger towns take for granted....there isn't even a physio in the town! I visited a woman today who recently had a stroke and hasn't been able to continue with any physio since being discharged from the larger hospital which is about 100kms down the road, as a result her recovery is not progressing well. Despite the lack of facilities, this woman's spirits were high and she was very grateful for how far she has come, she had just turned 56 and said she intends on being around a while.

I did a therapy treatment for this woman and there was significant improvement in her nerve-muscle communication, her muscles relaxed enough to enable her to unclench her fist and she was so happy to be able to open her hand which has been closed into a fist during her recovery since suffering her stroke. Being able to open her hand brought this woman so much happiness and joy that it made me realise how much we take for granted about our bodies.

Just remember when you decide to go for a walk, or drink a glass of water or have something to eat or take a shower, when you sigh because you cant find a car park close to where you want, or when you have to open a closed door......remember there are people who would be so grateful to be able to open the door, to go for a walk, feed and shower themselves and be able to drink a glass of water when they are thirsty. Remember that the things we take for granted are things some people may never get the chance to experience.....be thankful.

a dip in the ocean!

Today I took myself off to the beach, its been absolutely years since I went swimming in the ocean that I forgot what fun it is. I felt like a kid........jumping over the waves, getting dumped by them, ensuring my bathers were in place before I came up for air, body surfing and all that fun stuff....next I'll be riding a board! I was having so much fun that I was laughing out loud and squealing like a girl!!!

As I lay on my towel recovering from my activity I thought to myself, how lucky am I? I live in the best place on earth, I have a great job, I'm healthy and I'm excited about life!

Its amazing what a dip in the ocean can do.......