Revising your Story Line

It was a hot summer afternoon when I drove over to Tulsa for a meeting. While I was there something started feeling way “off” in my mind and body. I did what any young, arrogant leader would do, and drove myself back to OKC, not remembering the drive. Towards the end, one of my friends called for an ambulance to meet me at the end of the turnpike, in the same parking lot where my wife was coming to meet me. Mistake!!! I forgot to have the doctor call my wife to let her know an ambulance would be there. What happened that hot, Tuesday afternoon would change the rest of my life.

                  We had dinner that night with a friend, and his wife, who is a neurosurgeon. After dinner, we went to the back of our SUV, handed the films of my brain to Jeff and in 30 seconds my life was turned upside down, as he spotted what would be brain tumor #1. In the coming months, they would continue to find more tumors, a degenerative brain disease, spinal fluid lead, and more. Over 9 months, I would have 6 major procedures, that culminated in a craniotomy that there was a chance I would not wake up from.

                 Fortunately, I did wake up in the ICU and learned they could not reach the main tumor but had done enough damage that I would have the opportunity to relearn my motor skills. So, that we did! With a whole city cheering me on, and a family who would be the most sacrificial, rooted family in the world. As I would learn to walk, ride bikes, etc., we would spend our time laughing at the stupid things my brain no longer communicated to my body.

At that time I was leading a couple of organizations we founded. I was on bed rest, so our team and friends did an amazing job leading the organizations to great growth in that season. While I was thrilled, I also took a gut punch to the ego that I wasn’t needed with that reality my story continued to evolve. But there were a few new learned truths in my story:

1.        There is freedom in not being needed but wanted. When I came back, after learning that lesson, our organizations would quadruple in size!

2.        You’ll draw people to your vision when you don’t let anything stop or steal it.

3.        Sometimes the scariest moments in our lives are designed to launch us to new heights and realities.

4.        Having a high-capacity family, team, and friends is the foundation for an unexpected comeback.

5.        And God can do anything!

Today I am up to 12 unique diseases, from brain tumors to neurological diseases that should have me in a wheelchair by now, to a pulmonary disease, and the list goes on. But the greatest reality is we continue to live “beyond” the odds, defying the guessed outcomes from the best doctors, and chasing our story that we end up “beyond our wildest dreams.”

1.        What part of your story do you need to reframe today?

2.        What areas do you need to just laugh about versus being frustrated when you hit a wall? (That’s the only way I could stop the bike is to run into a wall)

3.        Who is surrounding you to strengthen your story?

Who do you need to back away from because of the negativity or stress they bring to your life.