Celebration Rocks!

This is my last post about Cochlear Celebration in Anaheim! I wanted to share some thoughts about it, ever since I got back! As you've seen by some of my posts, there's been so much to write about, it has taken me time to get to this.

At Cochlear Celebration in Anaheim, I was fortunate to be in a room with literally hundreds and hundreds of people with cochlear implants (I think around 500 to 700 people with them). Everyone from young toddlers to seniors was sporting their implant! It was absolutely incredible! I loved the instant connection and the sense of family that I felt during the whole time.

What's more, due to my own personal journey to change my life, live in the moment and celebrate the "now", I think I enjoyed myself more than I ever have before. I discovered the real me. I discovered that I am an extrovert! I would have never have guessed this at one time. I made so many new friends, lived so much joy, I couldn't contain it. I frequently would dance around with joy. People would watch me and laugh or smile. I wasn't the quite little mouse in the corner that hoped no one would pay attention to me. I felt like I had charisma and drew people to me. I had my own little "Celebration" dance that I frequently did. The music would be playing as we'd enter some of the big events. I'd be dancing and singing, "Celebration!" One old man said to me, "Do you ever run out of energy!" I laughed and smiled, "NO!!" He laughed and said, "I used to be like that when I was young!" I was flattered! Every time he'd see me, he'd laugh and joke with me about my energy!

At Celebration, my batteries kept being charged up and there was more energy than I could keep in my body. I had to let it out. Gone was the shy, isolated person. I'd make friends, be greeted the next day when I'd see the people I'd met the day before with warm hugs. Wow! Instant laughter, instant joy! Oh, and you know what, I found out I am a FLIRT! (You can ask Diane about that one, she got to watch me really go at it!) It was so common to see everyone with a cochlear implant, that after the Celebration ended, and my friends went to Disneyland the next day(Remember "Four Old Ladies Do Disney" post?); something was profoundly missing. I noticed no one there had an implant (except my little group). It was an affirmation to see so many people wearing one, and celebrating, as did I; their own little transformed lives!

What happened to the woman who didn't want to live past 50? What happened to the woman with an oxygen tank who couldn't walk 10 feet without her lip turning a little blue? What happened to the woman who was so embarrassed if anyone noticed her. Obviously, she was NOT the real me. She was buried under tons of fat and negative attitudes. The real "Ann" was on display and having a ball at Celebration 2009! I AM everything I dreamed and wished I could be. The hard work to change how I THINK, is paying off big time. The hard work to loose all the fat that I was hiding behind is paying off as well. The person who could barely move, was at the hotel gym at 10:00 p.m. trying like he dickens to work out hard enough to get her heart rate up to where it was supposed to go! How did she get this fit? While I'm not as fit as I could be, apparently my Jenny Craig program has been awesome for my heart. I had a 13% incline on the treadmill and a high speed (where I felt like I could hardly hang on), before my heart rate would go where it needed to be. Huh? My resting heart rate was usually above 100. Now, it's closer to 50. I'm transformed in so many ways!

I'm grateful to have gone on this journey. I am transformed. The transformed person, can squeeze every ounce of joy that is possible to get, out of the event I've wanted to attend for years, Cochlear Celebration! Celebration! Celebration!! Yes, dance and sing with me, "Celebration!" "Celebration!" Whoo Hoo!!! :)