FOUR YEARS TO FREEDOM
FOUR YEARS AGO I RODE MY SKATEBOARD INTO THE PATH OF AN ONCOMING CAR. Let me state that again. I rode my skateboard into the path of an oncoming car.
We all know the outcome. My spine snapped. My physical life altered. My wife’’s life, altered. My family’s lives, altered. My work life, altered. My relationships with my friends, altered.
It’s important to note that our lives weren’t ruined, just altered.
But it’s even more important to publicly admit that I take responsibility for this event.
I was the one who chose to work in a toxic environment. I chose to work long hours. I chose the stress that led me to purchase a skateboard in search of freedom. I chose to skate down that road at 7:45am. I chose the aversion strategy when the car suddenly appeared on my side of the centreline.
Too often we look for external factors to blame for the “bad” things that “happen to us”. I’ve been telling people for four years that I got hit by a car. That’s a lie. I hit that car with my body while on my skateboard.
Why would I admit this now?
Because I need to stretch my legs some more. And the chains of the victim will only allow me to roam so far. There is incredible benefit in taking responsibility for your own actions. Not only does it free you from the shackles of the past but it allows you to claim the next choice of path as your own too. And blazing my own path is immensely satisfying and rewarding.
It is with great pride that I announce it is my choice to adapt, and it is my choice to defy.
I am an Adaptdefier.