So, I owe a lot to my dad. He stayed home and took care of me after my aneurysm. I think he gave up a lot of promising opportunities just to stay home and make sure that I was okay.

It’s probably a lot harder on him now that I’m 25 and have strengthened myself to the point that I am now. I am very independent at this point in my life, which I was nowhere near even 5 years ago. He spent so much time taking care of me and watching over me that he’s not used to seeing me all grown up yet.

He gets upset when I spend my time at the gym, or working on my book or writing these blogs, but the truth is that I’m only working this hard to say thank you. My dad gave up his career to take care of me. How cool would it be that the reason he had to provide me with extra attention and care would become the source that lets him live his life.

I’m not a saint. I’m just simply trying to do the right thing. That is all any of us should be doing with our lives. For as much as my dad (and my mom) have done for me in my life, I would want nothing more than to repay each of them by taking my disability and having the determination it spurred become how I can live my life independently, and independently to the point that I can give my parents everything they sacrificed to take care of me and raise me the way any kid, disability or non, would be lucky to be raised.

That’s what I work towards every day. The reminder of that is all I need to keep me moving forward.

Yep, I saw it last night. (Don’t worry, no spoiler here!) I’m not sure how many people realize this, but I’m a pretty huge Disney fan. I don’t have to see the movie right when it comes out, but considering I didn’t feel up to going into the city Friday night, relaxing at the movies seemed like a great idea. The fact that the movie was Toy Story 3 is just a bonus.

My mom, of course, wanted to go see it and my dad, per usual, threw up his hesitations about going to see a Disney movie, but decided to come anyways so that he wasn’t home alone. By the end of the movie, I had tears going down my face and my dad, per usual, said how much he loved the movie and now wants to watch Toy Story 1 and 2.

…Yeah, I think my dad just can’t admit how much of a kid he really is. At least I have an excuse. I survived brain surgery when I was three, ergo I have a valid reason to embrace and hold onto my childhood. Regardless, all of us had fun and it always means a lot to me when my dad has a good time. It was just an early jump on Father’s Day, I guess =)

Even when I think I found something to believe in, and realized everything I may have liked about her, I realized it’s okay if it only amounts to foolish games because, despite it all, better days lie ahead. And even though there is nothing good about goodbye, I will never stop being an optimistic person and waiting for another perfect day.

The hardest thing about remaining optimistic is dealing with all aspects of your life.   I don’t really talk about my love life much on this blog because it doesn’t seem relevant. Today, though, I think it’s appropriate. You can see the development and the transitions that had to occur. No matter how great things seem to be coming together, anything can happen to any of us. I survived an aneurysm, and that definitely wasn’t expected—the aneurysm or surviving. In the end, though, you just have to remain optimistic because, even though goodbyes hurt, letting go is a huge reason that a lot of people can’t grow. As soon as we move on and get excited about our futures, that energy we wind up embracing our lives with spurs what’s to come. Happiness is always just around the corner. We just have to be looking forward to it, instead of dwelling on the past and letting it weigh us down.

Making a difference was the theme of the speech from the man who guest spoke at my college graduation. It’s over 3 years later and I still remember what he said.

Go out and make a difference for that is all any of us can hope to aspire to do in our lives. It doesn’t matter how many people you reach. As long as you reach one person and impact their lives, that is all that matters.

That man helped initially guide me as I left college. I knew I wanted to make a difference in the world. It was then that I understood that making a difference helps us grow and helping us grow is what helps society grow and ultimately betters society and our future.

Making a difference in one person’s life can be significant. There is a domino effect and a degree of separation which not only maintains the intensity that it effected the first person with, but it actually gains intensity because the knowledge initially presented has been absorbed by the person it impacted and, when they share it, they build off of that initial knowledge by adding their own knowledge they gained from the lesson initially presented.

The message carries on. It evolves and continues to resonate with everyone who hears it. To think it could all start with something I said to one person who I met while walking down the street.

Impacting other’s lives for the better. That is all any of us should aim to do. As that man said on graduation, live life to do good. The impact one person can have on a single individual is huge.

Even though I have large aspirations for my life, I’ve done what that man told me to do. He imparted his knowledge to me and I lived up to it. I not only continued his message, but I have spread my own. He told me to impact one person’s life and that is all I needed to do. Helping one person and making them feel more worthwhile about anything helps make you feel meaningful. I have done that. In fact, I have done that hundreds, perhaps even thousands times over…since graduating college.

I’ve lived up to what makes life happy. I have impacted, helped, inspired, motivated and fulfilled other people. I am so far beyond the requirement of making a difference to one person. Yes, I have many large and significant aspirations, but with each step I make forward the people I reach are bonuses. My life is full of bonus points with each person I impact in the rest of my life. The requirement is one. Everyone else I touch simply magnifies the joy of not just giving back, but making a difference.

Life is about the bonus points, what additionally you get beyond the minimum, or settled, life experience. Each day I live has been a gift. I should be dead and I continue to get stronger. That’s only one way I help better others. You see, I have so many ways of inspiring. I may not be at my dream yet, but with each day I continue racking up the bonus points. Those points are what will be cashed in to help my dream come true. Each person I meet gives additional meaning to reaching my goal. Something that significant is too precious to give up on and is going to evolve into one indescribable life that I have the honor of living.

I was leg pressing in the gym today. It’s a huge aspect of my motivational speaking career I plan on living for the rest of my life. I put a leg press in the middle of the stage and, one plate at a time, load 900 pounds on the machine and lift it for 16 repetitions keeping my hands on the handlebars the entire time.

I had just finished an overload set of 1080 pounds and was walking to get water when a man in his early 50s commented that I was limping and asked if I hurt my knee or my back. I told him no, no nothing like that. Then, when he still looked puzzled, I knew I had to tell him.

His puzzled expression remained. It did not vary at all from his now overt expression of disbelief and amazement. He was like “Wow, I couldn’t even tell.” He agreed with me that I should be dead, but instead I’m outlifting almost every single able-bodied person in my gym right now. I never used to be able to do that, but that is what and where 22 years of unremitting determination will get you.

He then went on to say “I’m old and out of shape. I have no excuse.” But when I explained that each of us has our own battles and this is mine the same way that is his, he began to understand the perspective I have taught myself to live life by. The stunned amazement dulled a little bit and he saw me as no different than anyone else in the gym…because, truth be told, that is exactly how I am and how I want to be seen.

Surviving the aneurysm was a miracle, but everything after it is nothing more than hard work and an endless desire to see how much further I can get myself tomorrow. Nothing is impossible if you keep finding yourself able to do more today than you did yesterday. As long as that line of progression continues upward then we have no way of knowing where it ends.

Doubt kills us. When you doubt yourself, you are stunting your growth. Doubt is negative. Momentum, determination, drive and passion are all positives and need a positive force to continue onward. Doubt is just the opposite, so of course it kills any possibility to continue onward. It was possible and anything is possible, we just simply make things impossible. If we quench doubt instead of letting doubt squash our determination then the word impossible would have an unknown definition next to it. The only reason impossibility exists is because we doubt something’s ability at becoming reality.

Dreams exist, but they only come true if you never stop believing. I went back and leg pressed 640 pounds with my hands on the bars. That man went on with his workout, but no longer looked at my limp because I helped him see the bigger picture that I undoubtedly work towards every day. Each day is a new day to get stronger and close to your ultimate dream. Today I made another step closer and today, after talking to me, that man was able to stop saying “Go you!” to me because he realized the power to say “Go me! I can do it, too.” The reason he can is because we all can.