By Dr. Jo Anne White

I remember lying on the floor, wondering am I alive or dead. I didn’t move, wasn’t sure if I could and needed to figure out where I was and if I was. I had been walking down the stairs when suddenly I seemed to be flying and with a loud thump landed on the hardwood floor. I hit my head and my glasses flew off laying somewhere yet to be seen. 

After lying there for I don’t know how long, I figured out I was still in my living room after all. I attempted to shift slowly to check if anything was broken. I was in pain, but my body parts moved, except my head was pounding, throbbing as never before. I got up slowly searching for my glasses. When I found them they were broken beyond repair. It was at that moment that the realization came: When I fell, I had come down hard, really hard. 

My speech, memory, ability to put sentences and thoughts together, and my writing were all compromised for a very long time. Sounds and lights were magnified so much that it was difficult to go places and my perception was off so I also steered clear of driving. Although this took place a few years ago, I still have some minor symptoms which are manageable and may never totally disappear.

There’s much more to this story of pain, healing, hope, self-discovery, and beyond. I’m in the process of writing a book about it to help others who are also going through TBI (Traumatic Brain Injury), and for the people around them who may not truly understand the impact it has on our lives and who can also benefit from it.

The reason I’m writing this now is because we’re going through a very unfamiliar and difficult time. It’s hard to navigate and unlike anything else we’ve ever experienced. It’s not easy to feel upbeat and hopeful. Yet for me going through the days, months and years of rehabilitation, retraining my brain, feeling isolated, alone and often misunderstood, there was something that stayed with me and carried me through.  It’s that something I want to share with you now.

The grace of this time was and still is my overwhelming feelings of gratitude: Gratitude for being alive and still being able to walk, think and not be permanently damaged or disfigured.  It sustained me throughout. I’m also thankful for the loving support from a few wonderful people. Even though the journey was a long one, I had moments of hope and small pleasures which to me where like treasures to behold. Ah life; how precious it truly is.

Whatever you’re going through right now be it pain, fear, grief, confusion, suffering or loss, pause momentarily despite it all. Dig deep down and find something in whatever you’re dealing with and going through that’s restorative like faith, gratitude and love. They add so much to our own healing and to the healing of our world.

That’s why I produced my Joy and Gratitude music video with the help of the very talented Dawn Simone: To uplift and to have you-us focus on the small moments, the things in our lives that are often overlooked that can bring us back home to feeling thankful and to reconnecting to our Joy.  

Why not start today. https://www.drjoannewhite.com/joy-gratitude-2/