The Importance of Overcoming Adversity as it relates to Character Development

If someone told me the morning of April 2nd, 2016 that the coach bus I was scheduled to get on that afternoon would end up in a multi-vehicle pile-up off of I-88 in New York several hours later, I’d tell them they were crazy.

Unfortunately, myself and several others were met with this fate, as a tractor-trailer carrying tons of lumber jack-knifed our bus in the midst of a sudden snow squall. Despite being in a now 7-year legal case and bearing the scars to remind me of that day, I don’t talk about my accident all that much anymore. 

Why am I talking about it now, you ask? Well, I felt compelled to speak to the ways in which it’s changed my outlook on life, my sense of purpose, and my belief that the physical and psychological damage I sustained that unseasonably snowy afternoon, was a blessing disguised as a nightmare. 

I came face to face with the concept of mortality, the sobering realization that each breath we take, each moment we spend suspended in time, is a blessing in its own right. 

Now at 26, I continue to work adamantly to prove my worth, my potential, and my skills as a professional in a field where golden opportunities come hard to acquire. 

Bottom line is, if I weathered the storm of a traumatic accident, standing where I am today, I’ll end up where I’m supposed to be in due time. And, so will you.