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You know, it’s funny.
A year ago, I would have said that life was cruel. Today I always say that life is spectacular!
It always seems that life has it’s way of messing with you when you are already down. You find yourself struggling and something else comes along to make the circumstances worse. Trust me, I do know what that feels like.
About ten years ago, I had a successful off-line business and I was completely happy. I worked in landscaping and construction, was going to school for advertising, played in a rock band and was competing and teaching in martial arts tournaments. One day, when I was on a job site, I blacked out and was rushed to the hospital. When I woke up I had doctors staring at me and the first thing one of them said was, “Son, this isn’t easy to tell you but, we found a tumor lodged between your rib cage and your lung.
I was nine-teen years old when they told me this. My response was how are we gonna get rid of it? The doctor said that it wasn’t possible and the cancer that has developed was going to consume me within the next 7 months to 1 year. My heart sank to the pit of my stomach. I told the doctor that this wasn’t possible, I’m in control of me and my body wasn’t going to decide whether I lived or died! He told me that I may want to make some arrangements and start spending time with my family.
Just then the reality hit me, this could literally kill me! What did I do to cause this? What did I do to deserve this? Well, I got out of that hospital quick. I figured enough time was being wasted sitting there with the doctors who said I didn’t have a chance. The odd thing was, even though they said there was nothing they could do, the wanted to do radiation therapy on me! It seemed they figured I was going to die any way, so why not soak up some money!
On my way home from the hospital, I stopped at a funeral home. I was actually looking at caskets and planning for my own burial. As I was facing this reality I thought to myself, ‘What could I do to change this?’ I had spent so many years taking care of myself, working out and meditating, Why was this happening?
From there, I went home and drank down a bottle of vodka and a case of beer. I went to my bed and didn’t move from it for 7 days straight. Then, one Tuesday morning, I opened my eyes and saw the view of downtown Pittsburgh from my bedroom window. The city had a golden glow to it. This is probably the reason they called it the golden triangle! The sun was setting in the evening and the water at the Point fountain was golden as well.
Everything around me seemed to be so beautiful. Then I thought to myself, ‘If I weren’t around anymore, who’s going to be left to describe these beautiful things to my family?’ I had always put it on myself to believe that I was going to show my family a world of beauty and find a way that they could achieve their dreams. My mom and dad had always worked so hard and had nothing to show for it. Who would be there to find a better way for them. At that moment I knew what I had to do.
Within the end of that week I sold my business, I sold the house I lived in and my rental property, I sold two of my three vehicles and I sold all of my stocks. I stockpiled the money into a bank account and decided to live in my truck for a while. It may seem like an odd thing to do, but I knew that surviving was going to mean having a lot of money to pay doctors.
For two years I lived in that truck and things were getting worse and better all at once. My body was beginning to fail me at the end of those two years, but my mind was as sharp as it had ever been. It’s funny to think back to those doctors that told me I had seven months to live. I think if I had believed them then I would have died. I went from doctor to doctor and I had finally found one that would take my challenge. He said, “It’s going to take some time, but we’re going to make this happen if you’re up to the challenge!”
To this day, I am very grateful to that man. To make a very long story short, about 6 and a half years later, the tumor and cancer were no longer a part of me. I wasn’t out of the water yet, I had surgeries for injuries in my knees and hands I had to take care of, and I had to put on the 87lbs of weight that I had lost when I was sick. I thought to myself… where can I find people like me and how can I create more value in the lives of others...with that said...if you'd like more from me...go to
http://blog.OutSideTheBoxLive.com
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