On June 13, 2005, something happened that changed my life, but it could have easily ended it.It was

On June 13, 2005, something happened that changed my life, but it could have easily ended it.It was a Monday morning and as was my usual habit, I went to Goodwill to look for records. As it had been the case in recent visits, the selection of records were pretty bad, a bit disappointed but it meant that perhaps I could come back on another day, week, or month.  I was driving down Sylvester Street in Pasco, Washington and was heading towards Sylvester Park at around 8:32am or so. My light was green and was at the interaction when all of a sudden, I looked towards the left and saw a car coming after me. At that very moment, there wasn’t time to think. All I could do was embrace for what was about to happen. I was T-boned on the intersection of Sylvester and 5th Avenue from a guy who wanted to run a red light, and did. I had said this elsewhere but it felt like being a kid, playing football or a childhood playground game called Wall To Wall, with Samoan friends and being hit by one of them. All I could do is try to find, as best as I could, to find a place to stop but being hit made it impossible for me to go anywhere. It is said that during moments like that, life flashes in front of you. I had few fast images going on in my mind but as I was heading towards the nearby park, what I saw within the trees looked like something very similar to the images found on the cover of The Beatles Seventh Christmas Record, which is what you see above. Perhaps it’s not surprising that at the moment I am a part of a car accident, I end up flashing a Beatles picture sleeve. The things I thought of was my mom, my sister, my nephew, and Hawai’i, those were the only things going on in my mind.I was able to stop near the sidewalk, and the car that hit me was trying to drive off but he couldn’t do it, the impact damaged his car severely. There was a witness to it, a man who said he was a reverend or a priest, and he asked if I was okay and I probably said “I’m here” or “I’m good as I can be”, I just know he was there. As I sat in my car, unable to get out, I thought of the things that I felt I needed to remember in the small chance I would be in something harmful: my full name, my address, phone number, social security number, where I am, where I’m from, where I was born, a way for me to see if I was able to recollect any personal data. I did. The police came, asked if I am able to move and I said I can feel my toes and move my hands. Due to the impact, they had to use the jaws of life to open my door, where the glass window on the passenger side was all over me. Eventually, I got out and the officer asked who to contact and I gave them my mom’s phone number, as she worked very close to where I had the accident. She couldn’t believe what had happened, and the guy who drove my mom there (someone at work) brought me home, as I felt I didn’t need to go to the hospital. I felt my neck was good and everything on me was in working order, maybe perhaps I should’ve went to the emergency room but sadly, I thought like someone who didn’t want to pay the hospital bill, despite the fact I and the car was insured. When I got home, I cried.Later in the week, I went to the place that towed the car and I got a chance to see the damage. The towing guy told me that considering the damage to the car, I should not be alive. In his words, it was that severe. I considered myself very lucky.Because of being T-boned, I felt I needed to make some changes in my life, as I had felt that if I was being given a second chance, I need to do some things in order to make those chances a valid thing. One thing that has always slowed me down is being overweight, something I’ve struggled for most of my life. I started to watch a video called Walk Away The Pounds and I began to do something I didn’t think I would do or even like: walk. The VHS tape had nothing more than the capability of walking one or two miles, with the potential to walk for three. It was a program hosted by a lady named Leslie Sansone who made something so simplistic into something that became a goal, if not an achievement. It sounds corny but as someone who had thoughts of doing walks and running in the back of my head, I felt this would be the right time to change myself and become active. It had taken me awhile to get into it but in time, I found myself enjoying one or two mile walks, before I made the move to three miles. While I would take breaks every now and then, I found myself enjoying what I was going and wanting to do more.When I moved, I eventually started doing four mile walks and enjoyed that. I eventually got a stationary bike, or I should say in a period of about five years, I got about three or four different stationary bikes. Bicycling was something I enjoyed in my early teens but when I gave my bike away to my cousin, I didn’t have a bike to ride. Doing the stationary thing may not be anywhere close to a real bike but I loved it and could easily do 15 miles a day, sometimes 30 to 35 a day when I’d ride twice a day. Sadly, while I was walking and riding bike, I wasn’t eating any differently so looking back, maybe it seemed pointless when I was making an attempt to help myself on one end, then going backwards by not monitoring my food intake.Five years ago, as I found myself traveling frequently to and from Portland, I decided to make a stop at Multnomah Falls in Oregon. For some reason, I looked at it and saw the area where one is able to climb. It was not a gigantic climb but as someone who only walked and rode a stationary bike, I didn’t know what it would be like if I made that climb. Nonetheless, I decided to take a chance and go for it. I saw the falls and liked what I saw, but then I saw the bridge and thought “oh no, am I really going to do this?” I had my shoes and went for the path. In about 10 minutes, maybe less, I reached the bridge. I felt completely exhausted but I was happy. I even snapped a picture of myself, looking and feeling like a blob, but happy. The path was a mere 0.7 miles, which is nothing but as someone who had rarely done any level of hiking, this was a nice goal. As I was on the bridge, I looked at the falls and the highway and said “from this point on, I’m going to improve my situation, even if it takes a long time to reach my goals.”Last year, I was walking a full six miles and looking towards doing eight and ten. I was using the MyFitnessPal app and monitoring what I ate, I even had a goal to take part in the 5k Aloha Walk/Run in Vancouver, Washington that July. Then I had a mini-stroke on May 4, 2014. I did wonder if experiencing what I was experiencing at that moment would be the end of my capabilities as a writer, I was still selfish in that aspect. At the same time, I was thinking “oh no, I don’t want this to slow me down by any means.” It was yet another rude awakening concerning my health, I already knew I was not the most healthiest person but the mini-stroke stopped me for a moment. On one hand, it was a temporary pit stop where my body told me “slow down for a moment and think about the goal. Then think of your other goals.” On the other hand, my body was also telling me that if I didn’t make even more serious chances, I may not get another “second chance” again. I still remember being in the hospital for four days, wondering when I’d get out, when I’d be able to get back to walking, when I could return to a better path. Once I got home, I realized it was not that easy to get back on that path, it was a bit of a slow recovery. At the same time, I pushed myself. I walked for only half a mile and couldn’t take it, I forced myself to stop. Yet I would return and in time I’d do a full mile. In time I would get back to two miles. Slowly but surely, I got back to four miles before I felt I had enough strength to do the six.  In five months, I lost between 35 to 40 pounds, although if I am to look back at what I was at my peak weight, I have lost roughly 70 pounds total, maybe a bit more.I will say that, while I am currently at a weight loss plateau, I honestly feel I am quite happy with things and life, very different from where I was 10 to 20 years ago. It wasn’t that I had a negative outlook on life and myself, I think it was more about having absolutely no outlook on life and myself, I allowed myself to go to waste. I was a news producer who would regularly feature health stories in my newscasts, as if I was crying for some sense of help even though I didn’t know how to start on doing those things myself. It would take a few rude awakenings within the moments when I made some effort, but I’m here.  There are people I know of online who work out on a regular basis, be it walking or running, some do half marathons or whatever it is, and I think “I wish I was with these folks so I could join them.” I now value my health, my sanity, myself, and it’s not of selfishness. I easily could not have been here but for whatever reason, I am here and I don’t want to lose not only any opportunities that may come up, but I don’t want to give up on… well, myself. I now envision myself losing 40 more pounds and another 50 after that, and afterwards? Who knows? I bought a pair of jeans last year, the first smaller jeans I ever had to buy ever, and now this pair is baggy. I need to by another small jeans, something I had never done. I like it,I always remember significant days in life and no, these days mean nothing to anyone but me, but I wrote this to say that despite whatever bad things happen, you are able to turn yourself around and make things better. Make yourself better. If you have that chance, don’t give up on yourself. Never give up. Life is only one thing we experience once, you are able to write your own path if you allow yourself to, be a good scriptwriter but never fear the ad-lib or improvisation. -- source link
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