Wikipedia defines a miracle as an event not explicable by natural or scientific laws. Such an event may be attributed to a supernatural being (God or gods), a miracle worker, a saint or a religious leader. When you observe or experience something phenomenal, would you say it’s a miracle or a coincidence?
Do you believe in miracles? Or are you a non-believer?
I am a firm believer in miracles and while I have had the good fortune to experience a few in my life, there was a time when I was a non-believer. I’d like to share what this was with you and why it actually did take me many years before I could see that a miracle had in fact occurred.
In 2001 I sustained a traumatic brain injury and was given less than a 5% chance to live an independent life. While more details about my story can be found here, it is what I don’t mention in it that I want to share with you today.
Doctors have no medical explanation as to how I survived.
After sustaining a brain injury I really struggled in accepting my new normal and coming to terms with my new reality. Despite making significant strides in overcoming my visible disabilities, such as relearning how to speak, read and walk, the most difficult part for me was learning how to deal my invisible disabilities. These included many cognitive deficits as well double vision that lasted for 4 months.
No one could see what I was up against at that time and it was extremely difficult to explain it to others without being made to feel that it really wasn’t such a big deal. Trust me, it was a big deal!
As I continued on in my healing and rehabilitation journey, I was able to find activities and mental exercises that helped some of the neurons in my brain remap and rewire which led to an improvement in some of my cognitive deficits. This is referred to as neuroplasticity which is in essence the brain’s ability to re-organize by forming new neural connections throughout life. This is a relatively new concept in the medical field, the prior belief being that the brain had a set number of neurons performing in a fixed way.
It took years, not weeks or months, for some rewiring and remapping to take hold.
I now understand that I am on a life long journey and am grateful for this as it means I will be able to continue to work on minimizing my deficits throughout my life.
The first ten years after my accident were extremely difficult for me emotionally and mentally as I was constantly being told that I looked “fine” and that I was “lucky” to have survived the accident.
It was really hard to hear comments like that when on the inside I felt like a real mess.
You see, during that period I really questioned why I had survived as I felt it would have been much easier on everyone, including myself, if I had just died that night. Like others who go through a life altering event, I found myself questioning what my purpose in life was having survived such a tragic accident and I always came up blank. The word miracle didn’t come into my mind at all.
Several years ago this all changed when I realized it was my perception of the event that had held me back from seeing the miracle that had occurred. By focusing on all the negatives in it, I had blocked out the ability to see any of the positives, of which there are many.
I had been living in a constant state of fear. Fearful of being labeled or judged for having a brain injury and fearful of being looked down upon or failing at whatever it was that I was doing because the brain just didn’t work the same way as it did before.
When I became open to looking at things through a difference lens, one that came from love, I was able to see things for what they really were.
It’s a miracle that I survived and that I have come as far as I have in my journey.
I feel blessed to be exactly where I am in life now where I can work with other survivors and help them to achieve their greatest potential in life by sharing my own story. Going through all the pain and suffering over those years helped me develop more compassion and care for those who are going through a similar journey. I can see exactly where they are as I have been in their shoes.
As Wayne Dyer puts it “Change the way you look at things and the things you look at will change”. My eyes are now open to seeing the miracles that occur around me in the world each and every day. And I don’t have to look too hard to find them. The word coincidence doesn’t exist in my vocabulary.
Miracles happen for those who believe. Expect Miracles!
Are you a believer? I’d love to hear your story below of a miracle you’ve experienced.
0
0
0
0
My life has been blessed with undeserving MIRACLES