If you know me, you know I’ve been through it physically & mentally for as long as I can remember. Growing up I had more than my fair share of injuries & mental set backs. This one still caught me off guard. Slipped on a catamaran and hit the edge of the stairs and every ounce of force went straight into my lower back. Got the wind knocked out of me so hard I couldn’t stand up for a while and even flat on my back in that much pain, I was still cracking jokes and making the people around me laugh. That’s just who I am. It was over an hour to the closest one, and the CT scan showed multiple fractures in my lower spine. They needed an MRI to rule out anything touching my spine or nerves, which meant another hour and a half drive because the machine on this side of the island was down. Thankfully the MRI came back showing the same thing as the CT, nothing worse. 4 fractures in my lower back - the right L1, L2, L3& L4 transverse processes, mildly displaced. Significant bruising/trauma to the muscles surrounding the fractures Contusion of my right paraspinal/psoas muscles Mild disc degeneration in my lower back Small/shallow disc bulges at L1-L2, L2-L3 & L4-L5 Slight shifting (Grade 1 retrolisthesis) at L2-L3 & L3-L4 The nurses and doctors were so kind and caring, and I was so grateful for them. It’s a funny thing about me, even through all the pain and everything I’ve been through, I’ve always tried to find the light in a hard situation. There’s no reason to make someone else’s day harder just because mine’s a tough one. There’s that line from Rocky, “It ain't about how hard ya hit. It's about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward. How much you can take and keep moving forward. That's how winning is done.” That’s basically been the theme of my entire life at this point. I know what it takes to get better by now, and I know exactly what I need to go through mentally to get there. It doesn’t get easier, and it puts my whole life on pause every time. But it’s also a reminder that life is what you make of it. That’s why I’m still happy. I still love my life, and I’m still grateful I’m here for all the little things I get to enjoy every day. I don’t know why I keep ending up in these situations, but I do know I keep getting back up. Every single time. And I’m beyond grateful I get to keep telling that story. If this is a reminder of anything, it’s that life can change in a split second. Hug your people a little tighter. Do the things you actually want to do. Stop waiting for the right time. Grateful to be here. Grateful to be alive. Grateful I get to keep sharing this journey with you. 🙏 - @dev.rice