A Tale of the 3 Amigos – Fitting in the box

So, here’s another tale of the Three Amigo’s for those whom are reading this for the first time their names are Brain, Body and Bottom. These three friends where always somehow connected to each other by this little human Miss Determination.

It was the teenage years and the three amigos were in high school. Body was in several sports teams and really enjoyed her time in school. She seemed to have made lots of friends from this and was invited to lots of social gatherings. Bottom didn’t really enjoy learning and was always in trouble for being the class clown. But then really loved being able to express herself in music, arts, crafts and design. She was especially proud that she could play Concerto in E-Flat Major all by her own wind, much to other student’s disgust.  Brain was the quieter one often found in the school library reading a book. She often stayed in there at lunch times and every break she could. She didn’t have many friends but the ones she did have made her feel warm and fuzzy.

The three amigos were coming into their final year in school. It was a time when they had to pass some exams called SPAMS which stood for Sometimes People Actually Measure Students or at least that’s what Bottom thought they stood for.

‘There’s so much pressure’ said Brain who was anxiously sat at the desk at home reading yet another book on how to be a doctor.

‘In what way’ said Body who was bouncing a ball against a wall thinking about her next football game.

‘Well, we have these SPAMS and were supposed to do really well but if we don’t it means we can’t do the things we want to do later on in life,’ said Brain

‘What do you want to do when you’re older Brain’ asked Body

‘I want to be a brain surgeon obviously,’ said Brain

‘Don’t you know what you want to do when you’re older Body?’ asked Brain quite condescendingly.

‘I’m not totally sure’ said Body ‘But I know I want to do something with sport. When I play any sport, I forget about everything and I just feel free that’s what I enjoy’.

Bottom whom had just finished making a portrait of herself with her, well bottom. She had aptly named this latest master piece ‘A cheeky selfie’

‘But what if you couldn’t do that what if your body got injured’ said Brain who was always glass half empty.

Body thought a bit then worryingly said ‘I suppose there isn’t much I could do then is there I mean that’s all I know and all I’m good at’. She worryingly went over to Brains library of books in a panic ‘I best start looking at other things I can do’

‘What do you want to do when your older Bottom?’ asked Brain ‘Aren’t you worried about your SPAMS?’

‘No’ said Bottom ‘I’m not, I just want to help people and make them happy so anything that involves that, then that’s a bonus’.

‘As long as I try my best and I know I have put everything I have into it then I’ll be happy.’ Bottom then carried onto her next project which was something special or so she thought.

Several days before SPAMS

It was a couple of days before the three amigos were due to sit their SPAMS. Bottom said they thought they all deserved a break from the studying and Body certainly agreed. She suggested they go outside and play rugby. She was practicing this set play for her final assessment piece. Reluctantly Brain prized herself away from her books. She had, very little sleep over the past few weeks worrying about her SPAMS and how if she failed, she wouldn’t be able to do her dream job of being a doctor and helping people. She had remembered all the various bones in the body and what function they had, she even remembered their peculiar names and could spell them perfectly.

They began to play and passed around the rugby ball. Body, whom had been thinking about her set play suddenly grabbed the ball from Bottom whom was so unawares fell on her arse. Body continued to hurtle down the garden then ploughed into Brain whom at that point was stood waiting thinking about the various bones in the body so did not see when Body was hurtling towards her at speed. There was an almighty collision as Body hit Brain full on. Bottom got up to see Body rolling round in agony holding her arm and Brain lying on the floor not making a move. For the first time ever bottom literally shat herself in sheer panic.

The aftermath

 It was the day after the incident. Brain was suffering from concussion and mild brain trauma but was told she was very lucky not to have any lasting damage to her brain. Body on the other hand had broken her hand and wrist when Brain fell on it during the tackle. Both were really lucky. Bottom did her best to cheer them up by telling them silly butt jokes and doing her party piece which I’m sure you can all imagine involved some rude noises and well some funky smells.

SPAMS

It was the day before the SPAMS exams. Bottom was pretty confident she had done all she could so was going to watch her favourite film and have a good night’s sleep. Body and Brain on the other had were in a complete state. Brain couldn’t remember all the body parts or their names since her accident. She couldn’t remember all the hours of revision she had done of the past few weeks. While Body was panicking that she couldn’t write as her wrist was so painful nor could she show off her winning set piece in rugby since she wasn’t allowed to play.

Bottom thought for a moment. She then brought out several objects which Body and Brain were intrigued by. She first looked at Body and asked her to put her wrist on the table to which she did but felt the pain quite badly. Bottom pulled out what looked like some sort of rubber mixture. She took out a big chunk and moulded into a big shape, she then asked Body to put her wrist on it and the mixture moulded round her wrist.

‘Now’ said Bottom ‘hopefully this will help you with the pain when doing your written exam.’ ‘Thanks,’ said Body ‘that feels so much more comfortable.’

‘That’s not all’ said Bottom as she pulled out a rather bright looking piece of fabric. ‘Elevate your sore arm across your body’ said Bottom. She then wrapped the fabric around Body’s arm which was the most beautiful sling you had ever seen. It wasn’t exactly Body’s taste in colours and she was worried that all her team mates would make fun of her but she put it on and instantly her arm felt lighter and less painful.

‘Now go and write out your set play and rest your arm in the sling afterwards’ said Bottom ‘you’re going to need that play to show your team mates for your exam.’ ‘Thank you’ said Body rather humbled by her friend’s kindness and thoughtfulness.

‘Now for you’ said Bottom to Brain as she pulled out some rather funny looking clay models and flash cards. Each flash card associated with a different clay model. Bottom had manipulated each model into the different bones as well as the movements. As she went through the flash cards with Brain suddenly all the pictures made sense and the words appeared in Brains head. She was so happy she gave Bottom the biggest squeeze ever.

That night the three amigos where all led in bed. Brain asked Bottom how she came up with the most fantastic and helpful ideas. Bottom said ‘I applied the F.A.R.T method’ to which Body and Brain laughed. ‘Don’t you mean the S.M.A.R.T method (Specific Measurable Achievable Realistic Timed)’ said Brain.

‘No’ said Bottom – ‘(F.A.R.T) Fun Artistic Realistic Thoughtful’.

Both Brain and Body looked at each other and smiled, in tandem they said ‘You’re one of a kind Bottom’

Butt that’s not the end of the story

No this isn’t the end of the story as we all hopefully know exams are not the be all and end all of people’s life journeys. So, what happened to three amigos in their exams you may well be thinking?

Brain did do well in her exams and passed what she needed to become a doctor. But she thought about becoming a different kind of doctor possibly a Prosthetist or a Brain surgeon to help people with injuries all thanks to Bottom. And Body, thought about coaching sport and possibly people with disabilities thanks to Bottom.

Bottom on the other hand didn’t do so well in her exams being she had given her friends her submission pieces to help them in theirs. One teacher did spot this however and thought her talents deserved to be rewarded so she nominated her for a design and technology award. From this she was then offered an apprenticeship from a big company so didn’t do too badly after all.

The morale of the story

I hope you enjoyed this tale of the three amigos. It was my intention to help those that might be doing exams right now that maybe feel that their whole life depends on these results. It doesn’t! I’m not saying don’t try your hardest. Get to a point where when you sleep at night it’s hopefully in confidence that you have done your very best and that’s all that can be asked of you.

I thought I had a path, a career, a job I loved and a purpose. When my cancer returned suddenly that path has drastically changed for reasons out of control. My brain no longer works the way it used to. Suddenly I am not working for the first time since the age of 15, left wondering what my purpose is. At the age of 43 I honestly don’t know what I want to do (or can do). But what I do know is that I want to get better and hopefully help others along the way. I did have a great send off from friends and colleagues and the one thing that stuck in my mind was that although I had worked so hard and helped deliver some fantastic projects. My highest accolade was in the things colleagues said about me when I did go. Not ‘good riddance to her’ I hear you ask?! But they said I was a person who looked out for others and showed kindness. That achievement is probably better than any degree or qualifications I have achieved and that’s the truth.

So what are the lessons I’ve learned from this;

1. We all have ability. The difference is how we use it.
2. Not everyone fits into the same box some have talents that can’t be measured in exams or tests.
3. No one’s path is smooth but when things go wrong there are always other options
4.  Some of the most successful people have failed many times over
5. Maybe the FART method should be taught in schools
6. There’s something in YOU that the world needs