Every single day you make choices. You choose what time to get out of bed, what to eat, and what mood you’re going to be in.

Choosing to see the positive isn’t always easy. Nothing in life is always easy. 

But the more you can choose to be positive and grateful, the more fulfilling your life will become.

The hardest part of my recovery journey was accepting “this might be the best i’m going to get.” When I finally had that conversation with myself, and decided to put my big-girl-panties on, it changed the course of my recovery — for the better.

Once we learn to accept who we are RIGHT NOW, we can start to move forward. Living in the past serves NO ONE.

Yes, you may have been an amazing guitar player or an economist. And right now you might not know how to read music or add numbers. But that doesn’t mean you have to be miserable and angry. It’s just a speed bump.

We all need to take time to grieve the old us, and to make sense of the way our world was turned upside down. For me, it took about 15 months. And once I made that shift in my thinking, everything changed.

I realized that this may or may not be temporary. So if  I wanted to help others and make the most of my life, I needed to come to terms with it.

I have touched tens of thousands of lives through my work. Whether through one of my articles, my books, a podcast, or meeting someone in person. There are many survivors who I may never know or meet or know their name, but they have been impacted by my work.

And you know what? Without this injury, I would have never walked down this road.

I am forever grateful for my journey. While I hope to never hit my head again, I know that everything happens for a reason and I was meant to take this journey.

When it feels like the world is closing in around you and you want to scream and cry — GO AHEAD. It’s ok. But when that wave passes: choose happy.