“My nephew was diagnosed with epilepsy. He would spend most of his time behind closed doors, retreated from everyone”
You see my second oldest nephew now aged 14 was diagnosed with epilepsy at 18 months of age. His epileptic specialist told us from the onset that he was wired differently and that we would need to be very patient with him. He is what you would call the classic introvert. He would spend most of his time behind closed doors in his bedroom playing with technology and would rarely be seen out and about with family and friends. He retreated from everything and everyone and that for me was very difficult to accept and to understand.
“Little did I know he would take my story one step further to help him turn his life around”
Last year this particular nephew was asked to prepare an oral presentation at school about someone or something that inspired them. I was speechless when he approached me and said he wanted to write about me – my weight loss journey and how I turned my life around. Little did I know he would then take my story one step further to help him turn his life around.
This year my nephew came back to us. He found life again, he found his family and friends again and most importantly he learnt to laugh and smile again. What changed in him I’ll never really know for sure but when he approached me to say he wanted to join up at the gym I was more than happy to encourage and support him. He now loves coming to gym to workout often bragging to his friends how much he can lift and how far he can run. He is like a completely different child to me and I’m so happy that I now have the opportunity to hang with him after the many years he spent isolated from us.
“This year my nephew came back to us. He found life again, he is like a completely different child to me”
I guess the point I’m trying to make here is that adopting a regular exercise pattern isn’t just about losing kilos and looking good on the outside. We all know that regular exercise is not only good for the body but it’s also good for the mind.
I think a lot can be said for those “feel good ” endorphins that are released when we exercise.”
