Motivation
Written by Amandita Sullivan
Brought to you by: Hope for Disabilities
"GOOD THINGS ARE GOING TO HAPPEN" is my mantra. I whisper it upon waking up, while
at the doctors receiving bad news, as I battle through one of my daily
skull-crushing migraines, when "it's another Saturday night and I aint
got nobody" (like tonight lol) and as I lay me down to sleep. Despite
what the scoreboard reads, en el fondo de mi corazoncito - in the bottom
of my heart - I know that the best REALLY is yet to come.
Whenever people hear my story, they want me to curse the world and stomp
on the grave of the man who did this to me. They demand the names and
numbers of whomever has hurt me, disrespected me, made me cry or
temporarily stolen my smile. I'm expected to despise my life. I'm
supposed to not want to get out of bed to face the day. I should assume
men do not want to date me. My spirits should be low and my confidence
even lower. No one would blame me for keeping my sadness up and my head
down. But, that's not how Sully "rolls" ...
I made a very
conscious decision in the weeks after my accident. I chose to LOVE my
LIFE, even though I may not like my CIRCUMSTANCES. If I don't love my
life, then I can never fully love myself. And if I don't love myself,
how can I expect anyone else to love me?? This came with the realization
that complaining will NOT improve anything. Transforming into Negative
Nelly will not magically allow me to run. Holding grudges against "the
powers that be" will certainly not empower me. As a matter of fact,
whining worsens a bad situation by allowing a person to chose
victim-mentality over hero-mentality. A broken spirit is way more
disabling than a broken body and almost impossible to cure. So, DO NOT
let this happen to you!! We create our reality through our THOUGHTS
alone. By thinking positive thoughts & surrounding yourself with
like-minded people, you will become unstoppable~ I PROMISE YOU!! By
adopting "The Good Things Are Going To Happen Mentality", wonderful
situations will begin unfolding before your eyes and beautiful people
will walk, crutch and wheel into your life.
On the way out of
the hospital one day, my Mom parked my wheelchair in the sun so she
could go get the car. A frail little lady, also in a wheelchair, was
left in the same strip of sunlight, as well, by her handicap van driver.
Her arm was in a sling and her big brown eyes were welled-up with
tears. She informed me that her name was Susan and asked what I had done
to myself. After explaining that I was struck by a car, I asked Susan
what happened to her. "I have cancer. =( =( ", she said, "But it's
treatable... " Her voice trembled and trailed off.
This
beautiful lady wanted to know exactly what the doctors told me at my
most-recent medical evaluation & what they had been saying about my
situation & my recovery in general. I responded very
honestly,"Susan, it doesn't matter what the doctors say. We can never
EVER base our recovery nor our happiness and optimism on the words that
THEY chose to define US. What truly matters is how you feel in your
heart. My heart knows I will be fine. This way, I let my heart define
me, not my body. This is our unique opportunity to let our hearts
transcend our bodies. "
Overcome with emotion, Susan wheeled
herself next to me and embraced me. Through tears she whispered,
"Amanda, it is like God put you in my path right now, in this little
shared strip of sunlight, at the EXACT moment that I needed to hear
those exact words. THANK YOU..."
I repeated the quote that I placed in my Facebook status earlier that morning, because it was fresh in my mind:
"A happy person is not a person in a certain set of circumstances, but
rather a person with a certain set of attitudes." Susan stopped crying,
wiped the tears from her cheeks and a bright smile exploded across her
face. As we said our goodbyes, I reminded Susan that that it's up to us
to keep the candle in our souls burning because that very candle will
curse the darkness of our situations down the road. How bright our
spiritual flames will burn is determined by US, not by our situations.
And, "it only takes ONE candle to curse the darkness." Had I not been
injured and at the hospital, I would not have been placed directly in
Susan's path. Hugging her made a lot of the drama of my past few months
disappear.
This difficult journey, though something I would've
NEVER chosen for myself, has been like a Graduate School for my soul.
I've learned that Spiritual Strength (SS) is infinitely more important
than physical strength. With time, SS heals ALL emotional wounds, thus
transforming a would-be victim into A WARRIOR!
My heart is
opened to whatever The Universe wishes to teach me while I fight towards
my full recovery. This new wave of inspiration has flooded my being so
greatly that I almost feel badly for the times I've been frustrated with
the crutches and the wheelchair. Focusing on what I can NOT do upsets
me every time. I am now maintaining my focus on everything I CAN DO.
And, low and behold, I am pretty amazing!! Who knew?? I bet you are, too
(you just don't realize it yet). I'm excited to be a part of something
EPIC, which is already teaching me more about pain, struggle,
heartbreak, hope, determination, inspiration, life and love than I could
have ever learned otherwise.
The key to TRUE HAPPINESS lies in
keeping your heart opened to all of the lessons that the Universe is
trying to teach you with each new experience. This holds true especially
during the most trying times of our lives: When the chips are down, the
bills are piling up, your back's against the wall & instinct is
telling you to protect yourself by closing up to everyone around you.
So, keep SMILING when you want to cry. Practice GRATITUDE. Search for
the UNIQUE lessons to be learned through adversity. Let your soul
overflow with HOPE, LOVE & LAUGHTER! As a result, a spark will
IGNITE within your soul cursing the darkness and illuminating an
INSPIRED path amongst the rubble of your troubles.
Brought to you by Hope for Disabilities
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteHi Amandita I found your blog after viewing a very inspirational video of yourself and then popping your name in Google.
DeleteJust want to wish you the very best of luck in what ever you may choose to do in the future,you are very inspirational,strong,determined,positive and are beautiful both inside and out, a very rare quality.
Keep up the out standing work, take care
Glenn ;)
Ps deleted my first post noticed spelling mistakes lol