the last thing I remember from April
23rd 2011 was closing the garage door
two days later I woke up in ICU hooked
up to all kinds of tubes and machines
April 23rd was a beautiful Saturday
spring day first riding day this season
my wife Vicki and I got on our steed I
mean our Honda Shadow 750 and we rode
off down the highway for some summer fun
unfortunately a car coming from a side
road ran the stop sign and pulled out
right in front of us I’m told that what
happened was I had no place to go I
jammed on the brakes and slid the bike
down laid it down and went underneath
the car I was jammed under the car my
wife was off to the side and it was a
horrific scene didn’t take long for
people to arrive and eventually we were
airlifted to the local trauma hospital
where the doctors and nurses and the
team did what they do best put us all
back together I had life-threatening
injuries so they gave me lots of blood
to keep me alive but they also did all
kinds of work with their rods and their
pins and their staples and whatever else
they have in those places of healing and
recovery the day before this happened
life was good I had life by the tail I
was training for my next marathon to try
to get faster I was working
internationally I had a lot going on for
me that I was so excited about and I
would say that my purpose was as strong
as it had ever been in my life to that
point I was making a difference and life
was good but the problem is I was a mess
one of the things that happened in this
accident we found this out a week later
is that an infection this infection that
I
picked up off the highway a very bad
bacteria that’s normally found in manure
pits got inside of my leg and a week
later my leg needed I needed to have
another up operate operation so I was on
this table and heading down the hallway
to operation number two and then
operation three two days later but I’ll
have to say that in all of that that
detour
I was extremely optimistic I had a
strong belief I had a strong belief that
I would overcome this adversity and be
back living out my purpose and my dream
any time now
it wasn’t going to take long I was in
peak physical condition
I had great doctors and nurses and I was
sure that we’d be through this in no
time
I had everything figured out I was going
to be back to work by September back
running by October and back to normal by
November I had to figure it out but it
was I ever wrong four months in to my
recovery I was back in the hospital
the infection that they thought they had
was full and alive and well in my lake
I’ll have to say that that was the high
point I probably had I was hanging by a
thread
in some ways I think the thread snapped
it was a deep in a dark time I would say
depressed and lonely and frustrated I
even asked the doctors I said are you
going to be able to save my leg is this
possible you know their answer we don’t
know we sure hope so well that gives you
a lot of comfort so I went home and
hobbled up my stairs and climbed into my
black recliner depressed frustrated
angry my plan is totally messed up here
sitting on my recliner I started to ask
you questions I was asking questions
about what on earth am I supposed to do
now
this plan I had was out the window
and it felt like the door to opportunity
had slammed shut and they put a lock on
it and I knew that I needed to find some
reasons some purpose while I’m in this
crazy terrible place and it didn’t come
right away and I felt like I was stuck
in a place that I didn’t want to be was
hurting didn’t know what to do
well I sat there for several hours but
you know what started to happen in about
ten hours give or take 20 there was a
crack that started to form I started to
realize that you know what I think I can
find some meaning in this mess I think
that people like me and recliners like
this can find something to do can find
meaningful purpose and activity so that
I don’t have to sit here depressed and
feeling like a victim so I started to
clarify what exactly I was going to do
and I realized I believed in a fresh way
that my circumstances didn’t need to
limit my success they didn’t need to
hold me back from rising in the midst of
this dirt pile and finding some gold
buried there somewhere I discovered a
new purpose a renewed purpose I did
things like I started I took online
writing courses I honed my writing
skills I learned how to self publish I
wrote my first book sitting in my
recliner and then I looked at people
differently every home care worker that
came in I looked at them as someone I
could inspire and encourage and give a
part of myself away to same way when I
went into the Cass clinic and I want to
walked out into the neighborhood I
realized that I could actually make a
difference my purpose now was different
and I was feeling alive because I knew
why I was existing once again but it
wasn’t quite enough I still was very
positive I believed I was going to get
through this I had
purpose but I realized that wasn’t
enough because this grind that I was
going through was very long I ended up
five thousand hours in my recliner now I
didn’t know what at the time but I knew
that I needed not just this purpose and
this optimism I needed some realism I
needed to adjust my sails because the
wind wasn’t letting up anytime soon so
one thing that I did I would hobble down
the hall come to the kitchen have my
breakfast hobble back climate America
honor take my oxy and get out a three by
five card and I would write down the six
things I was gonna do that day to give
me a sense of focus that was my plan
that was my realism in the midst of my
adversity and it started to open that
door just a little bit more as I lived
up my purpose with this optimism I had
this plan I decided that I was going to
focus on the things I could control and
I wrote in my journal on one side the
things I can control and the things I
can’t control on the other side and
guess what side I worked on you got it
on the things I could control there’s
lots of people around that are gonna
worry about the things they can’t
control I’d let them do that yeah I took
naps every once in a while without any
guilt but I woke up and I went back to
work
worked on my plan I did my six things
and the pain it’s it was amazing the
pain would be there but it would be kind
of off on the edges because I was
focused on some things I could control
I had this purpose I had this realism I
read men like Viktor Frankl who already
inspired me he lived during the German
concentration camps and was resilient
and was able to endure and one of the
things that he said that struck a chord
was he said that life has never made
unbearable by your circumstances but by
a lack of meaning and purpose was that
ever true by the way I didn’t drive for
717 days but who was counting anyways
part of my adversity but the opportunity
was there but then I realized purpose
and realistic optimism still wasn’t
enough the other thing I came to realize
was that I also needed the strength of
community I get it when you go through a
traumatic event you have a serious loss
something happens in your life you
sometimes just want to be left alone
don’t you just let me be and be in my
suffering for a while but I learned very
quickly that if I were to try to handle
this on my own I would be in a pile of
trouble really fast
I would get overwhelmed and I would not
be able to carry this load without the
community around me so when I woke up
there in ICU my family my friends were
there and this it was amazing he was
awesome and all the professionals that
surrounded me but then I also realized
it wasn’t enough to have these people in
the room I needed to let them in my life
I had to open up I had to say to them I
had to tell them my story and find the
safe ones among them that I could share
my hurts and my disappointments and my
losses and when I found those people you
know what I found I found tremendous
healing and help and it stirred hope
within me and opened the door of
opportunity to be transformed and to
transform others but I also realized I
needed something else because I went
back home and I sat in my recliner for
hour after hour my family and friends
weren’t there so much of the time and I
sat there and solitude was good but as
soon as isolation started to creep in I
thought I have to get out of this house
so I’d hobble on down the stairs it
would take me a while but I get on my
red scooter a little slower than the
Honda but it was adequate and I would
say to myself I am going to find myself
some community because I desperately
need it to survive and I’d go out and I
push that lever and I’d smell the
flowers and look at the scenery and find
people to talk
one particular friend that I got to know
was also on a scooter struggling with a
very difficult illness now he did have a
much nicer scooter but I didn’t let that
bother me and we would share stories he
just had a surgery I just had my you
know maybe 7th surgery and we talked
about what we’ve been through and we
would just show this understanding to
each other and this empathy and and I
would leave going back home flying back
home on my scooter as fast as I could go
energized ready to get back into that
recliner and do some more work because I
had been transformed by community and I
honestly honestly believe that I helped
him as well this conference is all about
revolution it’s all about taking the
things that happen to us and I
particularly believe that when we can
look at our adversity differently as an
opportunity not as an unwelcome
interruption that transformation can
happen in our lives adversity hits us
all and if we can see it as something to
be embraced something to be stepped into
with purpose with realistic optimism and
with community that that can change
everything not only change us but change
those around us we are transformed when
we have a purpose that’s big enough to
include stormy weather hail storms the
most challenging situations in life
we’re transformed when we have this
ability to adjust our sails so that when
the winds blowing we can actually cut
through the water and get to our
destination
we’re transformed when we surround
ourselves with people that believe in us
who we can believe in and travel this
I want to leave you with a challenge you
are you have either gone through
something in your past or you’re facing
something right now or you will face
something in the future I invite you to
go with me through the door into the
room of opportunity to look at your
adversity to look at your losses to look
at your suffering at the things that
either have are or will happen to you
and embrace them and find the
opportunity in your adversity and when
you do that you will be transformed and
you will transform your community thank
[Applause] [Music]
23rd 2011 was closing the garage door
two days later I woke up in ICU hooked
up to all kinds of tubes and machines
April 23rd was a beautiful Saturday
spring day first riding day this season
my wife Vicki and I got on our steed I
mean our Honda Shadow 750 and we rode
off down the highway for some summer fun
unfortunately a car coming from a side
road ran the stop sign and pulled out
right in front of us I’m told that what
happened was I had no place to go I
jammed on the brakes and slid the bike
down laid it down and went underneath
the car I was jammed under the car my
wife was off to the side and it was a
horrific scene didn’t take long for
people to arrive and eventually we were
airlifted to the local trauma hospital
where the doctors and nurses and the
team did what they do best put us all
back together I had life-threatening
injuries so they gave me lots of blood
to keep me alive but they also did all
kinds of work with their rods and their
pins and their staples and whatever else
they have in those places of healing and
recovery the day before this happened
life was good I had life by the tail I
was training for my next marathon to try
to get faster I was working
internationally I had a lot going on for
me that I was so excited about and I
would say that my purpose was as strong
as it had ever been in my life to that
point I was making a difference and life
was good but the problem is I was a mess
one of the things that happened in this
accident we found this out a week later
is that an infection this infection that
I
picked up off the highway a very bad
bacteria that’s normally found in manure
pits got inside of my leg and a week
later my leg needed I needed to have
another up operate operation so I was on
this table and heading down the hallway
to operation number two and then
operation three two days later but I’ll
have to say that in all of that that
detour
I was extremely optimistic I had a
strong belief I had a strong belief that
I would overcome this adversity and be
back living out my purpose and my dream
any time now
it wasn’t going to take long I was in
peak physical condition
I had great doctors and nurses and I was
sure that we’d be through this in no
time
I had everything figured out I was going
to be back to work by September back
running by October and back to normal by
November I had to figure it out but it
was I ever wrong four months in to my
recovery I was back in the hospital
the infection that they thought they had
was full and alive and well in my lake
I’ll have to say that that was the high
point I probably had I was hanging by a
thread
in some ways I think the thread snapped
it was a deep in a dark time I would say
depressed and lonely and frustrated I
even asked the doctors I said are you
going to be able to save my leg is this
possible you know their answer we don’t
know we sure hope so well that gives you
a lot of comfort so I went home and
hobbled up my stairs and climbed into my
black recliner depressed frustrated
angry my plan is totally messed up here
sitting on my recliner I started to ask
you questions I was asking questions
about what on earth am I supposed to do
now
this plan I had was out the window
and it felt like the door to opportunity
had slammed shut and they put a lock on
it and I knew that I needed to find some
reasons some purpose while I’m in this
crazy terrible place and it didn’t come
right away and I felt like I was stuck
in a place that I didn’t want to be was
hurting didn’t know what to do
well I sat there for several hours but
you know what started to happen in about
ten hours give or take 20 there was a
crack that started to form I started to
realize that you know what I think I can
find some meaning in this mess I think
that people like me and recliners like
this can find something to do can find
meaningful purpose and activity so that
I don’t have to sit here depressed and
feeling like a victim so I started to
clarify what exactly I was going to do
and I realized I believed in a fresh way
that my circumstances didn’t need to
limit my success they didn’t need to
hold me back from rising in the midst of
this dirt pile and finding some gold
buried there somewhere I discovered a
new purpose a renewed purpose I did
things like I started I took online
writing courses I honed my writing
skills I learned how to self publish I
wrote my first book sitting in my
recliner and then I looked at people
differently every home care worker that
came in I looked at them as someone I
could inspire and encourage and give a
part of myself away to same way when I
went into the Cass clinic and I want to
walked out into the neighborhood I
realized that I could actually make a
difference my purpose now was different
and I was feeling alive because I knew
why I was existing once again but it
wasn’t quite enough I still was very
positive I believed I was going to get
through this I had
purpose but I realized that wasn’t
enough because this grind that I was
going through was very long I ended up
five thousand hours in my recliner now I
didn’t know what at the time but I knew
that I needed not just this purpose and
this optimism I needed some realism I
needed to adjust my sails because the
wind wasn’t letting up anytime soon so
one thing that I did I would hobble down
the hall come to the kitchen have my
breakfast hobble back climate America
honor take my oxy and get out a three by
five card and I would write down the six
things I was gonna do that day to give
me a sense of focus that was my plan
that was my realism in the midst of my
adversity and it started to open that
door just a little bit more as I lived
up my purpose with this optimism I had
this plan I decided that I was going to
focus on the things I could control and
I wrote in my journal on one side the
things I can control and the things I
can’t control on the other side and
guess what side I worked on you got it
on the things I could control there’s
lots of people around that are gonna
worry about the things they can’t
control I’d let them do that yeah I took
naps every once in a while without any
guilt but I woke up and I went back to
work
worked on my plan I did my six things
and the pain it’s it was amazing the
pain would be there but it would be kind
of off on the edges because I was
focused on some things I could control
I had this purpose I had this realism I
read men like Viktor Frankl who already
inspired me he lived during the German
concentration camps and was resilient
and was able to endure and one of the
things that he said that struck a chord
was he said that life has never made
unbearable by your circumstances but by
a lack of meaning and purpose was that
ever true by the way I didn’t drive for
717 days but who was counting anyways
part of my adversity but the opportunity
was there but then I realized purpose
and realistic optimism still wasn’t
enough the other thing I came to realize
was that I also needed the strength of
community I get it when you go through a
traumatic event you have a serious loss
something happens in your life you
sometimes just want to be left alone
don’t you just let me be and be in my
suffering for a while but I learned very
quickly that if I were to try to handle
this on my own I would be in a pile of
trouble really fast
I would get overwhelmed and I would not
be able to carry this load without the
community around me so when I woke up
there in ICU my family my friends were
there and this it was amazing he was
awesome and all the professionals that
surrounded me but then I also realized
it wasn’t enough to have these people in
the room I needed to let them in my life
I had to open up I had to say to them I
had to tell them my story and find the
safe ones among them that I could share
my hurts and my disappointments and my
losses and when I found those people you
know what I found I found tremendous
healing and help and it stirred hope
within me and opened the door of
opportunity to be transformed and to
transform others but I also realized I
needed something else because I went
back home and I sat in my recliner for
hour after hour my family and friends
weren’t there so much of the time and I
sat there and solitude was good but as
soon as isolation started to creep in I
thought I have to get out of this house
so I’d hobble on down the stairs it
would take me a while but I get on my
red scooter a little slower than the
Honda but it was adequate and I would
say to myself I am going to find myself
some community because I desperately
need it to survive and I’d go out and I
push that lever and I’d smell the
flowers and look at the scenery and find
people to talk
one particular friend that I got to know
was also on a scooter struggling with a
very difficult illness now he did have a
much nicer scooter but I didn’t let that
bother me and we would share stories he
just had a surgery I just had my you
know maybe 7th surgery and we talked
about what we’ve been through and we
would just show this understanding to
each other and this empathy and and I
would leave going back home flying back
home on my scooter as fast as I could go
energized ready to get back into that
recliner and do some more work because I
had been transformed by community and I
honestly honestly believe that I helped
him as well this conference is all about
revolution it’s all about taking the
things that happen to us and I
particularly believe that when we can
look at our adversity differently as an
opportunity not as an unwelcome
interruption that transformation can
happen in our lives adversity hits us
all and if we can see it as something to
be embraced something to be stepped into
with purpose with realistic optimism and
with community that that can change
everything not only change us but change
those around us we are transformed when
we have a purpose that’s big enough to
include stormy weather hail storms the
most challenging situations in life
we’re transformed when we have this
ability to adjust our sails so that when
the winds blowing we can actually cut
through the water and get to our
destination
we’re transformed when we surround
ourselves with people that believe in us
who we can believe in and travel this
I want to leave you with a challenge you
are you have either gone through
something in your past or you’re facing
something right now or you will face
something in the future I invite you to
go with me through the door into the
room of opportunity to look at your
adversity to look at your losses to look
at your suffering at the things that
either have are or will happen to you
and embrace them and find the
opportunity in your adversity and when
you do that you will be transformed and
you will transform your community thank
[Applause] [Music]
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