Winter barley is sewn into cold unforgiving soil at a time of year when the conditions are set against a plant growing, the days shorter and the heat fading from the sun. With an arduous road ahead of it which at the beginning looks bleak and dark, struggling to find its bearings, it slowly emerges to break the soil to display its vibrant green shoot, the first sign of its hope.
Yet its journey ahead is still strewn with obstacles, setbacks and struggle. This being it still day by day grows a little stronger, a little taller most of its changes are unnoticeable until months later there that seed stands proud as a strong golden stem of barley. All this months of struggle and hardship paid off.
As I gently walked the countryside yesterday myself in the very early stages of recovering from surgery and adapting to changes in lifestyle, I could not help but draw a comparison between recovery and that field of winter barley.
The last ten years have seen recovery take the centre stage with highs and many lows. It began with having to learn to walk again and learn to live with and accept the loss of basic human functions as nerve damage meant permanent catheterisation.
Each year, I learned to live with and adapt to what I have including being PEG tube fed. The beginning seemed bleak and pointless seeing myself as half a person at best unable to complete basic tasks, but over the weeks I noticed improvements in what I did to the point I set goals to achieve and allowing myself to see the progression.
There are dark days and obstacles to overcome such as hospital admissions due to infection; it can feel like all the work I have put is lost. I always remember that to get better again I would have to go back to basics and start again. Just like those fields of barley in the cold and unforgiving winter, the harvest always comes, and I recover.
Jack
Jack is an amputee veteran who inspires people with his outdoor adventures with Flo. To follow his journey head to @Peglifejack on Instagram
