Why I'm Grateful - Grant

Throughout my life, I've had multiple people ask me the same question: Why am I so positive all the time? It's a fair question. After all, life can be tough at times and we may encounter some obstacles along the way. I recognize that it's hard to stay positive all the time. I too also have my down days and feel frustrated at times. I'm human too. But the answer to the question lies in the obstacles that I've overcome in my life.

At age 4, I was diagnosed with autism. The faculty at the preschool I attended said I was falling behind the other students and didn't think I would be able to catch up. My mom is very persistent, and she was not deterred by their opinions. She hired a full time speech therapist to help me develop cognitive and speech skills so that I could catch up to my peers. I was hungry to learn, and the results of my persistent quickly showed. By the time I was 5, I had taken an admission test to get back into the preschool and passed. And I never looked back after that. I progressively became a better student over time, and ultimately ended up surpassing many of my pre school peers, graduating from UC Irvine, widely recognized as a top 20 university in the USA, with a Bachelor's Degree in Economics.

I also suffer from epilepsy. I've had seizures in 2011, 2015, and 2019. 2019 was the worst one. On St. Patrick's Day eve, I had a seizure behind the wheel driving home and crashed into a freeway guardrail. Thankfully, nobody else was hurt, and I came away with only minor injuries. My car was completely totaled. The way it looked, I should have died, yet by some miracle I ended up surviving. I have no memory of getting into the accident or being pulled from my car and rushed into the hospital. The first thing I saw when I woke up in the hospital was a CHP trooper by my bedside. He asked me if I know what happened, and I said no. He then gave me the details, and had me take a breathalyzer test, which I registered a 0.00, During this time, I should have been panicking, yet I felt strangely calm. I guess I was grateful I survived. I called my parents, who were terrified that I had gotten into an accident. I ended up being discharged at 2:45AM, and by the next morning, I was taking my belongings from my totaled car. My license got suspended, and I had to prove I could go 6 months seizure free before I could drive again. In less than 24 hours, my life had been turned upside down.

Overnight, my freedom was taken away from me. I was on the verge of moving out on my own, but those plans got delayed, and I ended up remaining at home with my parents in my sister's old bedroom. I had no dating life, and my so called "friends" rapidly dropped out of my life. I had hit my rock bottom at 26. But that period of my life was a blessing in disguise in a way. Being socially isolated made me realize who my real friends were, and who was really in my corner. And it also was a wake up call that I needed to take better care of myself. I checked in with a neurologist in month 3 and month 6. By month 6, I had demonstrated that I remained healthy and seizure free, and she faxed the forms over to the DMV. I was finally going to get my freedom back. But the paperwork got rejected; my neurologist had skipped 4 measly lines out of 5 pages. So it took me another 3 months of being seizure free until she finally got my paperwork right, and then the DMV cleared me to drive again by February 2020. And I've never looked back. I'm happy to say that I'm on the verge of hitting the 5 year mark of being seizure free!

I had overcome another major obstacle. In addition to overcoming autism, I had also overcome my epilepsy. I rebuilt my life from scratch and had climbed out of my rock bottom to the other side. I've remained moved out, I bought a new car, became a cat dad to 3 kitties, and have gallivanted to some of the most beautiful places the USA has to offer! So to answer the question of why I remain positive, it's all about perspective. I remember where I came from and where I started. I overcame my autism. I remember the time that I was at my rock bottom, how I wished I could have my freedom again. And now that I have my freedom again, I never take it for granted. So whenever I hit an obstacle now, I always remember those that I've already overcome, and that's what helps me remain positive!