Gratitude

I’ll admit it, I tend to overthink things which I suppose is ironic considering the brain injury. Speaking of that, here’s an totally unrelated memory that just was triggered: It was probably 4 or 5 years ago when I was speaking about living with a brain injury to a bunch of 1st and 2nd graders. With complete innocence, a young boy in the first row whose arm shot up so fast he could barely remain seated asked, “If you have a brain injury, can you still think?” You have to love the curiosity and honesty of a 7 year old! Anyways, now back to The Winter Blues…

But back to The Road to Gratitude… Not that long ago I wrote in “It’s the Journey” about another road: “The Road of Happy Destiny”. The word road sure does seem to be popping up a lot? That post examined how it was a road “of” rather than “to” happy destiny that we trudge in recovery. This seemingly minor and semantical difference in word choice reminds me that it is in fact the journey, not the destination, where the experience of living occurs highlighting the importance of enjoying each moment.

And as they say, the rest is history! After going to Krempels that first day to see how I could “volunteer”, I met a program coordinator in the lobby who instructed me to attend the morning meeting to hear about the day’s programming. I was hooked instantly! Struck by the ease and comfort with which members engaged in the community-driven program, no matter the individual challenges each faced, I was overwhelmed by a feeling of “I can do this too!”

The book’s theme of continuous change and novel experiences has certainly held true. I found the story to be surprisingly realistic in it’s proportionality of “good/successful” versus “bad/challenging” situations arising. Whether intended or not, I found a strong message from the tale’s young protagonist was consistent forward motion is paramount to a successful life.

This past Thursday night I was able to attend a reception thanking the King Family. While the event itself was fantastic, taking place at Phillips Exeter Academy with great food and drink, the family and cycling ride bringing us all there are truly remarkable!

Although I’m always happy to engage in dialogue with any audience that I’m given the opportunity to share my experience with, the “Casino Night” was more of a brief overview of my and the RAWZ Fund’s connection with KBIC rather than a Q&A. In sharp contrast was a presentation to a group of 6th graders I was fortunate to make this week with ThinkFirst: National Injury Prevention Foundation.