The lesson was difficult. There are many circumstances in life that we can and should change. But sometimes, as much as we want a different outcome, what we have is what we get. It may be a diagnosis, a loss, a death, or some other circumstance that cannot be altered. At that point, life is what we make of it. And what do we make?

After a back injury, I was experiencing paralyzing muscle spasms, flashes of pain, and sleepless nights. I grew up in a family full of athletes, and I found myself feeling like an outcast and a failure. How could I be myself when the wrong turn of my body sent me into fits of pain? How could I keep up with my siblings when stretching the wrong way sent my muscles into spasms?