To a new year of new recovery

2012 was a bad year for me. While the first half of the year included a new job, a fantastic trip to Colombia, planning a move to a new and exciting house in SF, and some amazing hiking and camping trips with friends, everything came to a screeching halt on that fateful night in July when I suffered my Spinal Cord Injury. Paralysis is not a word I use very much to describe my condition because I hate the defeatist connotation of it, but I have to be honest about my situation after that accident: I was paralyzed, in more ways than one.

While my body was paralyzed from the chest down, so many other things had been paralyzed as well. I had been in peak physical condition before this accident and as a result of years of taking care of my body and consistently pushing myself athletically, I was in better shape as a 30-year-old than I was as a Division 1 college athlete, and sadly all of that was out the window. My new job at a renewable energy startup, and a potential springboard to a career in the field was suddenly stripped away from me. My summer plans of moving and setting up a new house, weekend camping trips in the mountains, and a vacation to Lebanon vanished right before my eyes. Everything that I knew, almost everything that made me who I am was turned on its head.

And now, almost six months after this horrendous incident, a new year is here. 2013 is the year that I walk. It’s a pretty significant task so it’s hard to call it a resolution, but the challenge of it means I will dedicate myself to it more than any resolution in the past. I will do all I can and work harder than I’ve worked to bring this to fruition. I’ve learned in the past few months about the incredible support of my community and I ask for your continued support in this next year, a year in which I plan to see all of you while standing on my own two feet. Happy new year to all.