As you can see, I’m in the middle of reading the book from Blake Mycoskie, founder of TOMS shoes.
I have never really had to work hard for anything. At least I don’t consider what I did hard work. I was comfortable. I had goals, but knew that they could be achieved with just a little bit of time and a continuation on the trajectory of life that I was on. BOY WAS I WRONG!
Things changed dramatically after our second child. Let’s paint a picture.
My awesome wife is a PTA and wants to go back to become a Doctor of Physical Therapy. We had our tentative plans on place for her to apply (and of course get accepted) into one of the two programs in the country that allow for this transition. We, meaning she, was pregnant at the time and were expecting to love after the baby was born.
Life happens and sometimes there are situations that you can’t predict or prepare for in life.
Our second daughter was born with Down Syndrome. We weren’t aware of it until the next day, as we were parents enjoying the birth of a child. Our lives changed that day. I can speak from my perspective.
I became afraid.
I wondered how will I support this child through adulthood?
I see and try to prepare for worst case scenario at all times?
Will my child be able to take care of herself?
Will my child be able to hold a job?
Will my child be able to live alone?
All of these questions have to be faced by parents with a special needs child. I don’t like to wait for things to happen in life, but like to prepare and over prepare.
I was afraid that I would fail my child and therefore fail my family, my wife and my children. That fear lit a fire under my ass that I have never had before. There is more focus now than I’ve ever had previously.
Here’s the sad part…it’s not hard to shoot to the upper echelon of our profession. Since my daughter’s birth, I worked and worked on creating myself as a brand. This was to prepare for a move that had to happen. I now need to create a legacy for my family. I was comfortable at my previous job, but it wouldn’t have provided the amount of financial stability that I needed to possibly support a child through retirement. I had to make a move.
I worked on building a brand and within 1 year was named among the top 40 influencers in our field by Updoc media. I started mentoring PT students and other PTs throughout the country. I started a Facebook show called People you should know. I doing more volunteer work now than I had in the previous years.
I thought that I was “busy” before Natalia was born, but now I’m no longer busy…I’m productive. I opened a clinic in Joliet with the purpose of trying to give back to the entire city. It’s been said that if you want to make a million dollars, you have to help a million people. My mission has been set to help as many people as I can because I know that this is the only way to face my fear of failing my family.
If you found this to be inspiring, informative, or entertaining…share it so others can read and learn from my experience.
Thanks.