******This blog is part of http://www.tbiwarrior.com
Dear friends, I hope you are all doing great and that you are having a wonderful week. A few months back I met a fellow Veteran online and the first email he sent me was a one liner. It was the question: Do you see yourself as a VICTIM? Needless to say, many thoughts rushed through my head. Among the thoughts was: "Who the hell this guy thinks he is?". It only took me a few minutes to reflect on the question. Today I thank him for that question. He really made me think and see my inner self.
Do I see myself as a victim? The answer is NO. Life is not easy and many time the card we are dealt is not the card we want for our next play. It is my philosophy that regardless of the hand life plays me I am going to make the best game possible. Victim for me is a moment in time. A moment that comes and goes, or better to say it is a moment that comes and we have to let it go. Life is about decisions. For me is: either I choose to move forward and get the best out of my condition or I stand still and let the condition get all out of me. I choose to move forward. I cannot rewrite my past, but for sure I can write my future. I was successful before the injury and I will be successful after the injury.
As a Soldier I learned to stand up and fight for what's just and for others. I am going to do what the Soldier in me learned. I am going to help as many people as I can. I always tried to be the best example for those under me, and today I am going to be an example for many more. Is TBI the end? Hell no. At least not for me. This is a new beginning. This is my second chance. This is the new me.
Today I encourage you to see your present situation as your chance. This is the chance, this is the moment, this is your time to write your story. A story of how many lives were changed because of you. This is your story, you are the star.
Ask yourself this question: Am I a VICTIM? What am I going to do about it?
God Bless you all!!!
*******This blog is part of http://www.tbiwarrior.com
Since you posted my TBI story this week, I rewrote it, mainly because I was writing to The President, my Senators and Congressman, to help create a TBI awareness. Originally I was ticked at having had this happen to me, but never felt that I was victimized in anyway. As I rewrote this piece, I was less flip in my writing style which I recognized in its original form was a cover-up for the old me dealing with my new life. Now there is a more sophisticated me re-emerging, one who was determined to move ahead. Of course spell checker is still very much my friend, as is Dictionary.com. Yes, there are still some measurable deficits but I really feel as if I have pulled myself up by the bootstraps and I can move along... What has helped create this change, acceptance. Acceptance of the new me has put me in a new and better space. Having other TBI survivors to talk to has allowed me to work through some problems which have plagued me and some instances them as well.
ReplyDeleteSo I am now getting my studio ready for a serious bout of painting...back to the world that I love...
Thank you for posting this. I like that you are not playing the victim and using what has happened to you to help others. I am very proud of you guys!
ReplyDeleteI love this! This I a lesson that I have recently learned myself. My husband sufferred the TBI, not me, yet I saw him and our family as a victim, I was angry an awful! Once I was able to open my eyes, I could see that this wasnt the case, things have been different since then! Much better! Thank you again for sharing your story!
ReplyDeleteBeautifully said Victor! You are THE MAN!!!
ReplyDeleteI am so happy to know that you and I are not VICTIMS! Now our job is to make all BI's know that too. See you soon my friend!!!