It is often difficult for one to consider past obstacles, failures, or setbacks as forms of blessings in disguise. Every life experience, whether positive or negative, shapes a person into who they currently are. Every person in some capacity is affected by those certain events. Some major events that influenced my life occurred between the ages of 12-14. They taught me lessons that I am grateful for and gave me a new, intentional perspective on life.

To begin with, I had my first significant injury in the fall of my 6th-grade year. I played youth football and began to feel intense pain in my heels. Whenever I used my legs to walk, run, and jump, my heels presented unbearable pain. After going to the doctor, it was discovered that I had Sever’s disease, which is when the tendon that attaches to the back of the heel pulls on the growth plate of the bone of the heel. The doctors tried targeted shots of medication in the back of my heel to fix it at the start, but that didn’t work, leaving me in two casts and then two walking boots for 6-week periods each. Eventually, my parents and I decided to have surgery, leaving me in casts and walking boots again for the same amount of time. I love sports, and being unable to play them during that time was very difficult. It was a time when I felt secluded from my friends and from my favorite activities because of this injury. It forced me to adapt to a somewhat sedentary lifestyle filled with video games, movies, and schoolwork, but it allowed me to find another hobby: playing guitar. That injury taught me to appreciate the blessings and privileges I’ve had throughout my life and take nothing for granted. It was a humbling experience and changed my perspective on life.

About a year after I healed from my previous obstacle, I suffered a concussion in a football game early in the fall season of my 8th-grade year. I went to the doctor the following day after the concussion happened, and she said that it was just a minor concussion and would only last 2-4 weeks. If a person wants to heal from head trauma properly, they must stay off electronics for nearly the entire day, abstain from brightly lit rooms, and sleep for an adequate amount of time. I first stayed home for a week, doing all those things to hopefully heal my head. After returning to school, I still had sensitivity to light and headaches, but it was improving for the most part. The symptoms that lingered on for nearly six months were dizziness and brain fog, which is trouble with concentration, memory, and thinking. It just felt like I was out of it mentally for quite some time. Unfortunately, my concussion caused me to miss my 8th grade basketball season, one of my favorite sports at the time. Recovering from my concussion was arguably more difficult than doing so for my heel injury. I felt even more secluded from everyone because I lacked social connections through my electronic devices, on top of not being able to be physically active. My concussion taught me to be grateful for my physical health and abilities and for simple, everyday tasks that one often takes for granted.

It’s easy to break down when hardships come our way, but we need to learn to push forward and learn from what we’ve been through. After those events in my life, it is as if I am always thankful for a new day because I know nothing in life is guaranteed. This daily thankfulness allows me to go about life with an “attitude of gratitude”, and I am happier overall because of it. In addition to that mindset, I can relate to and encourage other people battling injuries or setbacks now because I know how they feel. Ultimately, that is why I consider these times in my life as blessings in disguise, and I believe others should see them as such.