Carmel Jones

SHORT-TERM ACCOMMODATION & HOLIDAY VILLA OWNER.

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Most Challenging Moment:

I’ve had a few in the past, but it will probably be when I was raising my son (aged two then) as a single parent and he was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia. We were living on Kangaroo Island and we were airlifted to Adelaide to battle a disease that I knew nothing about. 

I went from being a teacher one day to a full-time carer. We didn’t return home for a year. Apart from the gruelling two years of treatment, I was also confronted to see some horrific things happening to children, their families, the doctors, and the nurses in a hospital. And these left some marks. I had to stay strong, resolute, and determined for my boy to survive. 

All of this happened two years after I suffered a catastrophic cardiac arrest. This resulted in my ‘sudden, unexplained death’ (for about 20 minutes). Luckily, I was given a second chance in life.   

LEARNINGS:

Life is finite. Keep going and don’t give up EVER. Be tenacious. It’s fine to be old—so much better than the alternative (a frequent phrase of mine when someone complains!). If not me, who? If not now, when…

Daily Self-Care:

My humour is a strategy that I use all the time: to diffuse things, lighten things up, and make people happy around me.

Get plenty of sleep, keep on top of everything, make sure details are sorted, and all avenues explored. I’m also very organised and great at researching things. This keeps me motivated and inspired.

When I can’t sleep, I practice mindfulness. I think of the colour blue and nothing else. It clears the white noise and the babble in my head). 

Message To Younger Self:

Be true to yourself.  Ask for help at times. Be a good friend and keep in contact.