Looking back at a literal crossroads (Part 2)

Hello everyone -- I didn't realize that this post didn't schedule correctly!  Here is the conclusion to my earlier post!
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Last week, I posted a quote – “We must let go of the life we have planned, so as to accept the one that is waiting for us,” by Joseph Campbell.   

I thought of that quote on Saturday, as I stood at the same corner I promised my mom that I wouldn’t disappoint her as I lived my life, literally minutes after the accident occurred.  I had my whole life ahead of me at the age of sixteen, and I had an idea of what I wanted my life to be before I lost my mom.  I had a life path set before me, but it was as if someone dropped a mountain on the path, making it difficult to continue down it.  I tried, but I quickly realized that change had to come, and there was no way I was going to walk down the path of life I had planned up to that point.

Instead, I found a small path, barely discernible to the eye.  As I started down this new path, I did not want to take it.  It was full of thistles and barbs, large boulders and tangling branches.  It was a difficult path, but I stayed the course, while loathing and longing for the original path I was to take.

What I failed to gather until this past weekend was that while this path I have taken has been long and treacherous, it has yielded the finest treasures – treasures that I have just taken for granted in many ways.  The list of treasures would include my two best friends, along with many, many other close friends, whom I would have never met had the accident never happened.  I doubt I would have met my wife, Shelly, because I had plans to go to a different college before the accident, and I chose Lakeland College because I wanted something closer to home after the accident.

I can’t say enough about Shelly, who tolerated more than anyone could possibly tolerate as I lived through the worst years of my life.  She stood by me the whole time, and I can’t thank her enough for the support she gave me, along with her family.  Shelly also introduced me to chiropractic, which would eventually become my profession, and which allowed me to be qualified to teach anatomy and physiology at Lakeshore Technical College.

The two other equally great treasures (when compared to Shelly) are obviously my two daughters.  I can’t imagine my life without them, and without having come to the crossroads back in 1993, I would never have known the absolute joys that are my daughters.

As I pulled away from that intersection on Saturday, my phone started to ring – it was my dad.  It was great to hear his voice.  It was purely coincidence that he had called – or perhaps it was just another example of how things seem to happen for a reason.  As I talked with him, discussing my daughter Brianna’s upcoming birthday party, it was just another reminder of the blessings I have come to know in my life.

There are times when we are faced with challenges.  Some challenges are large; some are small.  Sometimes we have no choice but to accept change, while sometimes we have the freedom to choose to change.

What I have come to realize is that when we face and overcome our greatest challenges, we experience our greatest successes.  If we allow ourselves to remain stagnant and content with the way things always were, or if we lazily spout out words like, “That will never happen,” or “That’s just the way things have always been around here,” we sidestep our challenges, and we rarely experience the thrill of victory or achievement.

Each day begins with the prospect of facing a major crossroads.  Sometimes the road less traveled yields the greatest treasures, and the greatest success stories.  Don’t be afraid to take the unknown roads.  You have no idea the wonders that may lie ahead...

Have a great day!

-Victor