If I have shown courage, it is not from me. It is from the Lord and a loving family. If I had gone through what I went through by myself, I would probably be depressed and crying. However, the Lord has given me strength and my family has given me encouragement.
I never thought about a brain injury survivor being someone who exemplified courage; that is why I was a little surprised when I heard that I won this award (BTW, I won the Courage Award from the Missouri Brain Injury Association). When I think of courage, I think of firefighters or soldiers...or some guy that wrestles bears, not someone like me, but if we look at courage as tackling a tough situation with a positive attitude, then I guess we can view brain injury survivors as courageous.
I have lost a lot from my accident. I have vision and balance problems among many others, but, dammit, I am not going down without a fight. I am going to battle through these things and continue to chase my dreams. We all have a hand that is dealt to us (or that we later draw), and what is important is how we play our cards. If we fold our hand, give up and call it quits, then we show no courage. We let the situation win. However, if we continue to fight (using God and those close to us as strength), then we can overcome. We can move past circumstances and show our courageous colors.
I have been told quite often how great it is that I am still smiling. Of course, I am. Do you know how much I am blessed? First of all, I am lucky to be alive, but also, I have been blessed with the best family and friends in the world. Most importantly, I have been blessed spiritually--God sent his only son to die for our sins and now I will live forever in Paradise. Hallelujah, I have been blessed--we have been blessed. That is more than enough reason to keep me smiling.
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