It Is All About Perspective... 3 Days Grace...Pain

“No matter how bad someone has it, there are others who have it worse. Remembering that makes life a lot easier and allows you to take pleasure in the blessings you have been given.”
– Lou Holtz

5 1/2 years ago I broke my neck playing with my son and his friend.

It was the worst pain I’ve felt in my life.

The doctor told me based on how bad the break was I should have been dead or paralyzed.

The song by Three Days Grace called Pain started streaming through my head…

“I’d rather feel pain than nothing at all”…was the one line of lyrics that looped over and over in my head for weeks and even months during my recovery.

Even though the physical pain was at times unbearable I realized what an incredible gift the pain actually was.

I quickly chose to be thankful for the pain because I knew if I didn’t feel that pain I would either be dead or paralyzed…talk about a lesson in perspective.

I am 40ish years old.. At the same time I was in the hospital a friend who was visiting told me a true story that happened a few days before I broke my neck.

There was a young man in his early 20s who lives in the same city as myself who had his black belt in some form of martial arts. He competed on a high level and was apparently a specimen in his field. He was in incredible shape and well on his was to becoming a true master in his art.

A few days before my accident he was doing some simple tucks and rolls on the padded mat, a move he had done routinely thousands of times in the many years of training, but somehow this time he got it a bit wrong and ended up also breaking his neck…

The difference in his story is that he became a quadriplegic…

Talk about a lesson in perspective.

Since this time I have had other tragic events in my life that make my “neck” story look like a paper cut but the lesson I learned about perspective and gratitude has carried me through incredibly difficult times.

ALWAYS be thankful … there is always something to be thankful for if you just take the time to find it.

Even if you’re in pain physically, mentally, relationally or all of the above there is a lesson to be learned, strength to be built, hope to be had, a flower to smell, a child to play with, a hike to take, an adventure to explore, a friend to call, a smile to give, a hug to be had, a life to enjoy.

Be encouraged…

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It Is All About Perspective... 3 Days Grace...Pain
It Is All About Perspective... 3 Days Grace...Pain
It Is All About Perspective... 3 Days Grace...Pain
It Is All About Perspective... 3 Days Grace...Pain
It Is All About Perspective... 3 Days Grace...Pain