Is Your Time Ever Truly Wasted?
The most common personal question I get any time I speak is: Are you pissed that you lost so much time (2.5 years) laying in a bed, not experiencing life? Ironically my good friend wrote to me recently and she is going through a rough time and said the same thing to me: I hate that I’m losing so much time.
Pictured below on the left is Julian Edelman, Wide Receiver for the New England Patriots. He tore his ACL in the preseason of 2017, missed the whole season because of it. His team made the Super Bowl and lost to the Eagles while he was sidelined. Now he’s back.
The guy on the right is Cooper Kupp. He’s an LA Rams second-year WR. He hurt his knee in a minor injury early this season and missed another game due to a concussion. Finally, he too tore his ACL, has missed every game since, has missed the playoffs and missed a chance to play in the Super Bowl this past weekend.
So back to the question: Is time ever wasted? Yeah, I’m the dummy in the middle between two great wide receivers, in my everyday position when I was sidelined those 2.5 years.
After years of witnessing the various traumas my brother experienced and after a switch in medication literally up-ended my life, PTSD, anxiety, and depression took over every part of my being. You can check out my story and why I chose to go public with my struggles [here].
Here’s how I now look at it and I hope it helps those of you going through a rough time, maybe frustrated beyond comprehension. Every day I spent in that bed was preparing me for a better life ahead and an appreciation once I started to heal. Do I sometimes ask why it had to be 2.5 long years accompanied by every failed treatment under the sun? Couldn’t I have just tasted misery for a year or so and still gained the same perspective? Maybe. But also, maybe not. Each day taught me something new about what others may go through that helps me to relate and help others now. Each day made me want to get back to some sense of “normalcy” that much more.
Do you think Julian Edelman appreciated being healthy the whole 2018 season? That he was chomping at the bit to get on the field to help his team win a title after he missed last year? That wasn’t time wasted. It got him where he is today.
What about Cooper Kupp? Was he wasting time, watching the rest of his teammates live out boyhood dreams on the big stage? Or do you think that he’ll come back hungrier than ever.
Time is never wasted. It’s all preparing us for better life experiences.
As shared by Eric Kussin, Founder of We're All a Little Crazy, a global mental health alliance. With Theo Fleury as one of their original celebrity alliances, Eric has learned about what we do at BFF and has quickly become a fast Friend!