The choices we make in life can either make us or break us. I have made two significant choices in my life that have broken me and made me into the person that I am today. 

In the afternoon on 15 November in 2008, a group of us were riding our motorbikes at a mate’s house. The choice I had made, to ride my bike that day, was about to change my life forever. 

I know this will sound really strange but I can only picture the darkest day of my life as being one of the most perfect sunny spring days Melbourne could offer. I’ve never thought about that until now, but the only image I have in my mind of my accident is that it happened on a day of pure bliss. I’ve got a funny feeling that this is not the same memory that my family and friends would have of that day.  

Anyway, back to the choices we make. I had chosen to go riding and near the end of the day I had chosen to do one last lap of the paddock before I was to head back to the house. This was my last lap for the day…OBVIOUSLY!  

The reason I say that ‘I made the choice to ride’ is to highlight that our lives are made up of many, many choices and that they are ours to make. We all walk around in our own little world in our own corner of the planet with the exact same mindset…‘IT WONT HAPPEN TO ME.’ That’s what I used to think, until…well, you know…it kind of DID happen to me. 

Always and with everything we do, such as walking out of the house or getting into the car, the choices are there and sometimes unforeseeable situations present themselves. If I were to stop and think about my choices that day, I guess I would have done things a little differently. I would have made sure the accident couldn’t happen.  

If you knew that some of the choices you make in life can have such an impact, would you think harder before you make them? Well guess what, I’m telling you right now that it is your duty to think about the choices you make. Cool your jets and take your time. Think a little harder. Every choice has a consequence. 

The choice I made, to ride my motorbike, on that sunny spring day in 2008, has had a profound impact on my life. After my accident, I had to make another choice and that was, what I was going to do about it? 

When adversity strikes, we can CHOOSE how we’re going to deal with it. When I was stretched out on the hospital bed, not moving, and drinking my Christmas lunch of roast turkey with cranberry sauce through a straw, I had a choice to make. Now this is going to sound brutal but I could either:

Cry over it


or

Get over it.

I know this sounds pretty straight up but it’s true – crying over spilt milk is not going to clean it up. I knew that I couldn’t change the past but I could create my future. 

Let me say that again –

I KNEW I COULDN’T CHANGE THE PAST BUT I COULD CREATE THE FUTURE. 

How we choose deal with the consequences of our choices can either make us or break us.