There’s an old joke that starts off, how are you today?
And the person goes, do you really want to know?
And the answer always is no.
Stop complaining.
I live my life with the intention to live it to the fullest. I handle the cards that are dealt to me, and I accept and make the most of it.
When my mother was a young woman, she lost my brother.
My brother was 10 months old, I was about two and a half.
He died of pneumonia.
My mother so wanted it to be SIDS, but in reality, it was really just pneumonia. She didn’t check on him, he was coughing, and he passed away an hour later.
A tragedy in every which way. One that greatly affected my childhood on so many levels.
When I was five and a half, my mother decided that she couldn’t deal with the pain anymore of what her life was, and decided to try to end it.
My mother and I talked about this very freely before she passed away, so it’s not a wound to me at all. It’s actually a chance to really prove a point and really give you a perspective on what life truly is.
My mother went 65 miles an hour into a parked car. The car was broken down in the left-hand lane, and my mother did not stop. There were no skid-marks. Four more cars piled up behind us, and my mother for the rest of her life, had major back issues.
I developed scoliosis from the impact of that car wreck. You’ll see pictures of me before the car wreck and after the car wreck, and I’m off to an angle. This was the ’60s. There was no chiropractors, nobody really looked at my back, they just figured I was a kid, I was okay. But I literally went from the back seat to the front seat.
I’ve had back issues for a long time. I’ve got a blown L4-L5, and there are days where I’m just so stiff, it’s so uncomfortable.
There are other days where my butt is burning so bad that I have trouble sitting.
I go freeze and go to cryotherapy five days a week to get rid of any and all inflammation so I’m in more comfort.
If I skip stretching one day, I feel it the next day. I’m extra stiff.
I still work out three, four, five times a week.
But I make sure I stretch every single day. There are days that I get headaches from my back being all wonked out.
But you will never, ever hear me complain, because I feel blessed that I’m alive.
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Previously published on davidwygant.com.
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Photo credit: istockphoto.com
