@bluefinstudios, I for one am glad you made it past that point.
I have been in that situation with everyone saying "he's not going to make it", but I have that old meme stuck in my head; that is the one that shows a monkey sitting on a suitcase full of money, and saying "if I can't take it with me, I'm not going"...
We learn not to be our own worst enemy, and yes you made a promise to yourself to return to the ice, but in reality there is no time limit. You'll get there back on that same ice when the time is right, but as you succinctly put it, you are here to write this story.
That, my friend, is far more important...