Smart Decisions
Now that all the schools are out and it’s summertime I
wanted to remind all of my readers how fragile life can be and to not make stupid
decisions.
One of the things that frustrates me the most and is very
hard to watch is when I see people on their phone and driving at the same time.
Sometimes I will honk at them to make them stop but most of time they don’t
even care or they don’t understand what they are putting at risk. Once you’ve
been through something that can change your life forever, then you’ll
understand the risk, but by that time it will be too late. So that’s is why my
goal is to change how people view life and understand how precious and fragile life
really is before they’re in a position like mine or worse, DEAD.
To be quite honest, there are times I get very pissed off (pardon
my french, but it’s true) when I see people put their life on the line for one
little text that’s probably saying, ”hey man, want to hang out tonight?” Well
it will be kind of hard to hang out when you’re in the hospital fighting for
your life. The other night I saw this man driving on the interstate texting. Even
when we were going around this long turn, he still kept texting, he barely
looked to see where he was going. He’s probably thinking “oh, it’s just one
text, I’ll be okay.” Well, are you still going to think that when the doctors
tell you that you will never walk again? Is it still one little text? That your
life will never be the same ever again? I wanted to jump out of my van, grab
his shoulders and yell at him, asking if he wants to trade bodies. I wanted to
yell about how big of idiot he was. If he
were to live in my life just for one day, or any person with a disability, he
would realize you shouldn’t make stupid decisions.
What about you? Do you enjoy the freedom of hopping in your
car to drive to your friend’s house? Do you enjoy being able to change clothes
yourself? Do you enjoy jumping out of bed whenever you want to take a shower
without any assistance whenever you wanted to? Do you enjoy hanging out with
friends in the summertime not having to worry about your physical therapy the
next day? Do you enjoy going on vacation without having to worry about all of
the medical equipment you need? Do you enjoy going to college, living in the
dorms being independent? I mean, granted I will get there one day but I’d rather
be at that point right now.
Whether it’s saying no to drugs, saying no to immature friends
that think they are invincible and do crazy stupid stuff (like the guys on the
TV show Jackass), or not putting on your seatbelt on because you want to look ”cool”.
I’ve seen it all, and it can happen to anybody. I hate the saying, “bad things
happen to good people” because it’s not true. It’s not like tragedies only
happen to good people, it can happen to anyone. I’ve seen so many patients in
the hospital or in rehab with me that have suffered from a brain injury or spinal
cord injury that one night decided to make reckless decision like driving drunk
and how their life of independence and their freedom was taken away in a blink
of an eye because of the decision they made. Or maybe because of that decision
THEY made, they could possibly wreck and anyone who is involved could suffer from
permanent injuries because of their decision.
One day I met a fellow who was addicted to drugs. One night
he overdosed and the next thing you know he is in rehab hospital with a spinal
cord injury and a brain injury. I met someone that wasn’t wearing a seatbelt when
he was driving, crashed, and then was thrown out of the windshield and broke
his neck against the pavement. I have met multiple people that accidentally dove into the shallow end
of the pool or a sandbar and broke their neck. And then you have my accident
which was kind of similar to not wearing a seatbelt only I was in the back of the
pickup truck. All of us, now dependent on other living, breathing human beings just
to live in an “almost” normal life. And all of us, begging you to never make a
decision like we once made that changed our lives forever, and those of our
loved ones. And we beg you because we
love you and care about your future!
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