Adversity Can Come Anytime - Chapter 1

It seems like some people area always facing some type of adversity in their lives.  You know the type, the person that is never happy unless they have something to complain about.  For some people, adversity, and the emotions it evokes, are like a drug, feeding their cells and sensory areas just as alcohol or tobacco can do.  Many times, until one is free of the conditioning effect of these self-prescribed medications dispensed by the hypothalamus and distributed by the bloodstream to the cells as they scream for their routine fix, it becomes a vicious cycle.  It's easy to see this in smokers, but try to recognize it in someone around you...trust me, they are there...you just have to open your eyes and see them.

Just as almost everyone else, I've had my fair share of adversity.  Often, adversity does good as it challenges us to improvise, adapt, and overcome.  Remember, what doesn't kill you, only makes you stronger...right?  But what happens when adversity comes at a young, immature age, where someone really isn't responsible for their own lives, and basically is dependent on an adult or other caregiver to take care of us?  And what about those challenges that are virtually by accident or by other means beyond anyone's control?  That's probably the situation in my first bout with adversity in my life.  The date was July 9, 1963, my birthday.  I don't remember the details of that day and mostly rely upon my mother and father for the information I'm conveying to you in this post.  Honestly, I don't remember a thing, nor do I have any feelings, but according to my parents, I almost wasn't born.

Apparently, there were complications during delivery on this momentous day in 1963.  The umbilical cord had become wrapped around my neck several times and I was unable to make it out naturally.  A Cesarian Section was ordered and further complications prompted the doctor to tell my father that we might lose the child but we can save the mother.  My father's view at the time, was of course save the mother, we can always have more children.  But by some miracle we both survived and I appeared to suffer no less than a delayed entry into this world, and possibly a wild-nature streak in me.

Now some people might have been seriously affected by  a situation like this.  Perhaps the cord could have constricted, cutting off the supply of nutrients and oxygen to my body and brain.  Perhaps, the trauma could have caused a still-birth.  And just maybe, the whole situation could have been relayed to me later in life as a reason to be a victim for the rest of my life.  Maybe the "Pygmalion" affect would have caused the knowledge of this event to set me up for a life of adversity, always keeping my pressed down from the success, happiness and joy that everyone naturally deserves.  The events to come in my life surely indicate that it could have been a real possibility, and the things I will share with you over the coming months will attest to the obstacles I've endured due to accidents, my own haphazard nature, and other people.  But it's all good!

Not too long after my life's first struggle with adversity, I would ride my trike down a flight of steps off the front porch and have double-hernia surgery by the age of two.  I bet you can already see the anguish building in me as life deals me blow after blow...now I just need to find someone to blame.  Just kidding mom and dad!  Like farmer John says, "Compost Happens!"

That's all for today...check in soon as the "Me" saga continues and I share more adversity in my life.  Until then, wake up early to see the sunrise, tell someone important to you that they are, and think of something you indulge too much in and consider abandoning it for a short period to prove to yourself that you can do it.  And if you can't ask for help...it's closer than you think.

Cheers,

DW