Through Tragedy Blooms Gratitude

On January 20, 2002, I was in a devastating car accident caused by domestic violence that forever changed my life.

I was 21 years old, with a bright future ahead of me and a beautiful 2-year-old little girl.  When the accident initially happened, I was given only 48 hours to live. Doctors told my family that if I ever came out of the coma, I probably would not even know my name.

Two and a half months later, I began to wake up and I had my total mind…

Thus began my journey, proving that anything is possible and that in life, there are so many reasons to be grateful.

The first couple of years were very hard on me emotionally.  I was told that I would never walk again.  I felt as if there was no reason or purpose for me to even be alive.  I could no longer have the freedom to teach my little girl how to dance, ride a bike, or even carry her if she got tired. 

I could not understand why this had happened to me. I kept asking God… Why?  Why me?  What did I do to deserve this? I hid my inner feelings from everyone around me with a smile, pretending to be happy that I was alive.  Inside I was drowning in self-pity.

Slowly, I started finding reasons to be happy everyday instead of dwelling on what I had lost.  I was gradually missing out on all of the moments that I should have been grateful for because I was dwelling on the past, which I could not change.

I had three beautiful little girls, a home, wonderful friends and family, and most importantly, I was given the gift of being able to wake up everyday and live my life.  I had to make a change.

My change began one day, when I decided to write my feelings and story down just to get it out…it was my therapy.  One of my best friends read some of my writing and told me that it was so touching and I needed to share it more openly.  She explained how I was an inspiration for her.  When she would have a bad day, she would look at me or think of me, and see how I was still living my life everyday despite losing so much.  A light bulb lit up in my mind. I realized that I could possibly inspire many people with my story if I started sharing it.

I started creating my website, from that point on.  (http://lilunperfectangel.webs.com) I began marketing and promoting it, with hopes of turning my tragedy into an inspiration for people that read it.  Once I first started getting hits on the site, I also started getting comments and emails from total strangers from around the world, thanking me for inspiring and motivating them to keep on living past the obstacles that life had thrown them.

I was absolutely amazed.  God really did have a bigger plan for my life and all the things that I had endured were for a reason much bigger than I had ever imagined.

In May of 2008, I was contacted by someone that worked for a company called Colours Wheelchair in Corona, California who had read my website.  They explained to me that the company was looking toward possibly expanding to the East Coast, and that they would need people that were inspiring and active in the disabled community to promote their company and their mission statement.  I was so excited with this awesome opportunity.  More and more opportunities just like this started popping into my life.  I was in awe.

I began speaking locally to other newly injured spinal cord patients, schools and churches.  It became my healing process, to share my story publicly.  I was even asked to participate in the Ms. Wheelchair North Carolina 2009 pageant, in April 2009, to compete not only for the title and crown, but more importantly for the chance to represent people living with disabilities across the state of North Carolina.  I was so honored.

Throughout the next year, I kept in mind that I would not be participating in the pageant to win, but rather to have the experience and form new friendships with the other ladies.  All of that happened when the date finally approached on April 18, 2009, plus more than I could have ever imagined.

I was crowned Ms. Wheelchair North Carolina 2009! I was given the opportunity to not only continue sharing my story more publicly, but also to be an advocate for other people living with disabilities throughout my entire state.  I now have the platform to really, truly inspire people and reach my dream of turning my tragedy into a triumph that I am now grateful for. 

Yes, I am very grateful for my wheelchair, my paralysis, and my life! Without any of this happening to me, I would not have found my God given purpose to inspire and help other people realize their dreams and goals, in spite of any physical limitations that they may have.

I have so much to be grateful for. Even on the most trying days, I have to close my eyes and think of what my life could have become, if I hadn’t taken a positive path towards my future. 

My future has just begun. This is only the starting point, and if I had given up, I would have missed out on the opportunities that I have been blessed with and all of the ones that are yet to come.  I have proven to myself that being grateful does more for your life than just make it better, it opens up so many doors of opportunity by bringing positivity, determination and most importantly happiness.

No matter what we are faced with in life, we still have so much to be thankful for.  We must not ever forget that.  Once we lose sight of all of the things that matter the most, we lose a piece of our reason for existence.
“Once in a while you get shown the light in the strangest of places if you look at it right.”
-Robert Hunter

Erika Bogan, Miss Wheelchair North Carolina, 2009

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A note from the Gratitude Circle – We are so honored and excited to present you with Erika’s blog post and her inspiring story.  We would love for you to continue on and visit Erika’s Website at http://lilunperfectangel.webs.com.

Erika is in need of sponsors in order to compete for the National Title of Miss Wheelchair America.  Head on over to her site and click on the donation button, if you would like to donate to help Erika share her platform and inspire others on a national level.  Every little bit helps and is most appreciated.

We hope you truly enjoyed this post as much as we did and feel inspired by Erika’s story.

If you are on twitter, please follow Erika @unperfectangel

A Fun Day with Today’s Moms!

I blogged last week about the VIP Book Bash and Diaper Drive hosted by the Today Show’s Today’s Moms.  We went and it was so much fun!

It was great to get to meet some fellow mommy bloggers and twitter friends in person and of course, Today’s Moms Mary Ann Zoellner and Alicia Ybarbo.  Together with Pampers, Today’s Moms announced a campaign to raise enough diapers (by Mother’s Day) to supply Baby Buggy for an entire year. Every mom paid the price of admission, a pack of diapers to help Today’s Moms reach their goal!

It was a fabulous morning of networking, sharing, and getting to meet these two fabulous and inspiring ladies!  As the morning went on, we got to meet Natalie Morales of NBC, who I remember from her days on local TV here in CT.  My Aunt and I really enjoyed chatting with her and of course getting our picture taken with her.

We had lots of great goodies and giveaways and the biggest surprise of the morning – a visit from Sarah Ferguson, the Duchess of York! She is one classy lady and so heartfelt, warm, and caring.  It was such a treat and I have to say, my grandmother – rest her soul - would have been so proud to see my Aunt and I with the Duchess.

In all, it was such a wonderful experience and I am so honored and thrilled to have been able to participate!

Today’s Moms VIP Book Bash!

I AM SO EXCITED!!!

I won tickets to attend the Today Show’s – Today’s Moms VIP Book Bash and Diaper Drive tomorrow in NYC!

It will be a very exciting morning.  I am really looking forward to this event and of course, the surprise celebrity guest – hmmm who could it be?

I will be tweeting during the event, so be sure to follow @gratitudecircle to read my tweets.  I will be blogging about it as well when I return, and of course – taking lots of pictures!

To check out Today’s Moms, click here for their website:  http://www.todaysmoms.tv/

Have a fabulous day!

Miss Wheelchair North Carolina 2009 is…

Erka Bogan!

Congratulations Erika, we are so happy for you and so very proud!

Many thanks for all the prayers and support that she received from everyone. I was so excited to learn Saturday night that Erika won and will represent North Carolina at the Miss Wheelchair America pageant later this summer.  It’s so exciting and I am so honored to share in Erika’s joy and journey.

You are in for a treat as Erika will be blogging for the Gratitude Circle very soon.  You will surely be inspired by her story!

In gratitude,

P.S.  Click on this link to read an article about the pageant and see a video/slide show about Erika.  Enjoy!

http://www.mountainx.com/news/2009/new_miss_wheelchair_north_carolina_crowned_in_asheville

Oh and take a look at Erika’s wrist – she wore the Gratitude Bracelet as her good luck charm and hasn’t taken it off since! 

Good Luck Erika!

This week I introduced you to my friend Erika who is headed to the Miss Wheelchair North Carolina Pageant. I am so excited to share this story that her local news station did on her with her dress for the pageant.

Grateful for a New Friend

I am so excited to share with you a new friend of mine. Her name is Erika and we met through Twitter. Her story is amazing and truly worth the read. She is such an inspiration to me. She and I, though from different perspectives, share so many common interests and many similar goals.

I am thrilled to share with you that Erika will be contributing to the Gratitude Circle within the next week or so as a guest blogger, so stay tuned!

In the meantime, I wanted to send words of encouragement from the Gratitude Circle as Erika heads to the Miss Wheelchair North Carolina pageant this weekend. I know I will be praying for her and sending her all my positive energy as she ventures out to share her platform and story with others.

Good Luck Erika – We’re Cheering for YOU!

P.S.  Check out Erika’s website by clicking here. Are you on twitter?  She’s a must follow – you can find her at http://www.twitter.com/unperfectangel

Gratitude and Positive Affirmations

I absolutely love this short video with Louise Hay, a pioneer in the field of positive thought.  I encourage you to take the 5 minutes to watch it.

Louise is such an inspiration and talks here about the power of positive affirmations which we have spoken about a lot here at the Gratitude Circle. Affirmations really are such a simple concept.

A friend of mine, who has struggled with her body image, is taking the time to invest in herself.  Her affirmation is the following:

I am a lean, SERENE, fit, and healthy machine.

I loved it so much, I told her that I needed to steal it for myself.  She gave me permission. 

I encourage you to find some affirmations that you can relate to and practice them many times a day.  Post them on your mirror, text them to a friend, and/or write them down each night.   There are many ways to reinforce them.

Finally, Louise speaks of the power of Gratitude and how much the universe loves it.  The more gratitude you feel and express the more you will get back to be grateful about.

It’s all about planting seeds and watching them grow. Small, subtle choices and changes, will lead to big and wonderful things overtime.

P.S.  Want to read more about positive affirmations?  Check out our blog post on affirmations from March by clicking here.

Investing in Yourself

I’m sure that we’ve all heard the saying that we are no good to anyone until we take care of ourselves.  Why is that so hard for some of us?

If you’ve been on an airplane, they tell you that in the event of an emergency, you need to put on your mask prior to helping others – why? Of course it’s because if you don’t take care of yourself – you won’t be able to help anyone else!  It makes sense, huh?

I know a lot of people who struggle with this.  Deep down, I think they feel that it’s selfish to take care of themselves.  They keep giving and giving until there’s almost nothing left to give.  They become an empty shell of themselves – battered, broken, and struggling to keep moving.

I encourage you to take the time to invest in yourself.  Do you know yourself?  Who are you?  What do you like?  What brings you joy?

I take my investment in myself very seriously.  I take care to nurture my mind and body on a daily basis.  Some days I have abundant time to do this while other days I may just have a few minutes.  It doesn’t matter really – what matters is that you make the conscious effort to do it.  Consistency and commitment are so vital!

Your investment in yourself can be as simple as a few moments in silence to a yoga class, a hobby, or a peaceful walk.  Investing in yourself doesn’t even have to cost money!

Take charge of yourself because you are the only one who can do it!

What will you do to invest in yourself today?

It’s All About The Climb

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Lyrics from The Climb by Miley Cyrus

I can almost see it
That dream I’m dreamin, but
There’s a voice inside my head sayin
You’ll never reach it
Every step I’m taking
Every move I make feels
Lost with no direction
My faith is shaking

But I, I gotta keep tryin
Gotta keep my head held high

There’s always gonna be another mountain
I’m always gonna wanna make it move
Always gonna be an uphill battle
That sometimes I’m gonna have to lose
Ain’t about how fast I get there
Ain’t about whats waitin on the other side
Its the climb

The struggles I’m facin
The chances I’m takin
Sometimes might knock me down, but
No, I’m not breaking
I may not know it
But these are the moments that
I’m gonna remember most yeah
Just gotta keep going

And I, I got to be strong
Just keep pushing on, cause

There’s always gonna be another mountain
I’m always gonna wanna make it move
Always gonna be an uphill battle
That sometimes I’m gonna have to lose
Ain’t about how fast I get there
Ain’t about what’s waitin on the other side
Its the climb
Yeah

There’s always gonna be another mountain
I’m always gonna wanna make it move
Always gonna be an uphill battle
That sometimes I’m gonna have to lose
Ain’t about how fast I get there
Ain’t about what’s waitin on the other side
Its the climb
Yeah yeah

Keep on movin
Keep climbin
Keep the faith, baby
Its all about, its all about the climb
Keep the faith
Keep your faith
Whoa, whoa

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A friend of mine, who is battling Hodgkin’s Lymphoma, posted this video and the lyrics in early March.  I had heard of the song at that time, but really hadn’t paid much attention to it.  As I listened to the song and applied it to my life, it’s like a light bulb went off. 

It’s now become my anthem.

We all try to get to the other side in life, right?  We always think if we can just get to the weekend, if we can just meet that deadline, if we can just get through the work to the end of the day, if we can just achieve that goal, if we just had enough money and on and on.  Can you relate?

It’s really not so much about physically achieving things – I mean don’t get me wrong, it’s great to achieve our goals and important to do so, but so much of the learning is about “The Climb” and what we learn along the way.

If we can actually relish in the journey as opposed to wishing away the day or week or seeing that we haven’t yet achieved that goal – think about how much richer your experience will be!

So many people have heard me say that I’ve done so much growing personally and professionally in the past five years that it almost hurts.  I often feel like the incredible hulk just exploding.  Sometimes good and sometimes bad, but when I now look back on it, I realize that I had to go though the struggles and the achievements to get where I’m at.  It’s really all about what I’m learning and doing along the way.

Life will never be perfect, there will always be another mountain to climb – that’s the beauty of life. We never stop growing.  We never stop changing.

Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose, but it’s a matter of keeping faith – whatever that means to you – to keep moving forward and look at every experience as a blessing - no matter how hard.

I’m not where I need to be yet, but I am going to keep on climbing and enjoying all the beauty along the way.  How about you?

In gratitude,

P.S.  My bff and her family popped over last night to join in the celebration of my sister’s birthday.  It was a wonderful evening of friends and family sharing conversation, love, and oh yeah – yummy cake around the dinner table.  We got talking about our phones for some reason and my bff told me that I needed to call her phone so that everyone could hear the special ring tone she had for me.  I dialed the number and what did she have for me?  You guessed it, The Climb. It’s funny because we’ve never really talked about the song aside from me maybe mentioning once or twice that I liked it.  I know it’s only a ring tone, but it really meant a lot to me that she chose that for me.  It’s definitely my anthem.  What’s yours?

Gratitude Games & Grategories Winners!

Thanks so much for everyone that read our review of Gratitude Games and played along with our giveaway!

I want to thank all of my twitter friends who tweeted about the giveaway.  A big thank you to:

@ShireenFreeman @ZenRabbit @pinwheelgirl @lyricessence @cynstarlight @jorayne @createabalance

I appreciate the tweets!  You were all entered in to win and the winners are……………

Grategories:

Stacey @createabalance

Gratitude Games:

Christi

Thank you all for playing along!

Don’t forget you can purchase your own copies of Gratitude Games and Grategories.  Click on the links below to find out more.  I know you’ll love playing!

Gratitude Games

Grategories