Message for fellow TBI survivors

Going on 4 years since the day that changed my life. Got into a bad wreck, irresponsible truck driver cut me off. Lost consciousness, through a combination of trauma and an induced coma, for over 5 weeks and, when I finally was ambulanced home. Because I was no longer in the hospital, people assumed that I was all good and would be back at it in no time.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

As they brought me into my house and I looked around at everyone, I was so confused. I could not remember the names of my parents, they looked familiar, and I felt I knew who they were, but I drew a blank. The same thing happened when I saw the rest of my family; their name’s were on the tip of my toungue, but I couldn’t connect the dots.

To top it all off, I couldn’t even remember how to walk. It took 1 whole month for me to be able to even stand by my own volition. I learned how to walk once again, thanks to the support I received from my therapists and my family.

When I was back on my feet, I made, what in hindsight is the best decision I could have made, and proclaimed to my therapists, to my brothers, to my parents, to everyone who could hear, that I would complete a marathon.

Through setting myself this challenge, I’ve had the opportunity to work on so many aspects of my life that I cannot imagine how I’d be doing so without.

I share my experience because I have used running as a means to an end. I want to feel better, I want to feel the satisfaction that is so hard to find at times. I need something to help me stay motivated and give structure to my day to day.

Every day I go for a run, I celebrate every pace, each as a small victory that gives me more energy to continue fighting the battle that we TBI survivors struggle with on a daily basis.

Left, right, left, right, left, right….. in each step I affirm that I am closer to the goal.

Find a task where you can do just the very smallest thing, and celebrate each and every small victory that you achieve.

Be the captain of your own ship

You lay in bed, maybe looking through social media and swiping up continuously when you get a sudden spark in your mind.

You've started to realize that the results that you've gotten in so many different aspects of your life are not the ones you've desired. You haven't been promoted, you haven't lost weight, you haven't gotten into a relationship. You go deeper and deeper into the outcomes that you're living through currently and recognize that they are not good at all.

This moment of clarity can cause one of two outcomes:
-you lose all motivation and spiral into a loop of self-pity

-you recognize that there is something you can do about it and take control

Of the two options, one is clearly more positive than the other. 

One will lead you to a higher degree of satisfaction. One will put you on a path to achieving that which you claim to so badly desire.

Although it sounds like an obvious choice between the choices, it is the more difficult of the two, without a doubt.

As Isaac Newton said, describing the laws of motion, an object in motion will remain in motion and, at the same time, an object at rest will remain at rest, unless acted upon by an outside force.

You are the object.

You are also the outside force.

You will only see the results that you are looking for when you act in a way that will lead you to those results. 

Standing still and waiting for things to happen will lead you to fulfill that law of motion without a doubt.

Recognize that you're both the engine and the captain of your own destiny. You can move in any direction that you want. 

You just need to choose where to go and be willing to do what it take to get there.