FORUM: MOTIVATION

The day started out just like any other. I was up by 5:30 AM, at the gym by 6:00 and in the office by 7:30. I was focused and I was on a roll. It’s amazing how productive we can be when we plan our day out. On this particular day, I felt especially purposeful. I knew exactly what I had to accomplish. There was no distracting me from my goals. I was in complete control. Or so I thought. You see, for all my planning, I was totally unprepared for what would happen to me on this particular day—a day like any other.

At 6:45 I left the office and headed for home. At 6:47 I reached down to get my cellphone charger. Big mistake. At exactly 6:48 I crashed. Crap. I was so distracted with my phone that I missed the turn (the one I make every other day) and plowed into a tree. I knew that my right leg was broken; I just didn’t know how badly. It wasn’t until the medics cut through my pant leg that they realized that I had a compound fracture—both the tibia and fibula were outside of my skin. It was nasty, but at the time, I didn’t quite appreciate how serious an injury I had. “It’s contaminated,” the medic told me in the ambulance.

So much for planning. Five excruciatingly long weeks in the hospital and three painful surgeries followed. Then I spent three months at home, hooked up to a wound-vac for my leg and a pump for the antibiotics I was receiving through a port in my chest. I looked like Robo-Cop, but I felt like Robo-Crap. It’s difficult for me to express the despair and desolation I felt. I couldn’t understand the timing of it all. Things at my company were on a roll. Speaking engagements were scheduled. Then this happened. How could I give motivational speeches when I couldn’t even empower myself? I felt hopeless, and it was affecting my attitude and my actions—and everyone around me. I no longer had a purpose, either, and that hurt more than anything else.

Then one day I received an unexpected phone call from my brother, a Jesuit priest, who was on a six month assignment in Chile. “Maybe you’re not being called to understand why this happened,” he said. “Maybe you’re just supposed to accept it on faith.” Hmm. But how was I going to do that? Before the accident I was in control. I had plans. I was on a mission. But now ..

. And then it hit me: Whether I liked it or not, I was going through some changes in my life—painful ones at that. I had to find a new purpose in my suffering. I realized that even though I couldn’t control what had happened to me, I could control the way I dealt with it. I decided to change my attitude. I realized that I had a tremendous opportunity to turn adversity into victory—not just for me, but for those around me.

Someone once said, “The difference between thinking and feeling is that feeling is what you get from thinking the way you do.” I never realized how powerful a statement that is until the day I decided to change my attitude. The effects of that decision were immediate. The first thing I noticed was a tremendous sense of liberation—as though I had given myself permission to get out from under the oppressive weight of self-pity and doubt. I took responsibility for the way I was living my life since the accident. I had a new sense of purpose taking shape in the desire to not only survive, but to live life to the fullest. My first priority quickly became getting better physically, which helped me to work through the pain of physical therapy. Each day my progress improved exponentially. I also developed new goals for my life. Goals for spending more quality time with my family. Goals for my career; my writing; my public speaking. I wasn’t sure how long it would take me to get back on my feet (it took seven months to recover), nor did I know how I was going to accomplish these new goals. But the “how” didn’t seem as important anymore because I rediscovered the “why,” and as Nietzsche wrote, “He who has a why to live for can bear with almost any how.”

We’ll all have to face adversity at some point in our lives. Chances are that for all of our planning, we’ll never really be prepared for it. But it’s how we deal with it that makes the difference. Regardless of our situation, we are all called to give an affirmation of life—to take responsibility for how we live. To decide to find meaning and purpose every single day regardless of what that day might bring. Who knows what life has in store for us just beyond the bend.

Beyond the plans and the strategies. I say…bring it on. H