How Breaking My Leg Has Changed My Life
I’ve enjoyed adrenaline for as long as I can remember. I started snowboarding when I was four years old, and since then I’ve been on the hunt for the rush. While most kids played baseball or football, I was more interested in some of the more dangerous activities. Snowboarding, skateboarding, mountain biking, and motorcycles have always interested me, but eventually, like any choice we make in life, there will eventually be consequences.
It’s 8:35 AM EST on Thursday, August 2nd, and I’m writing this with ten screws in my leg and a wire drawn through my ankle following an accident on Tuesday, August 2nd. If you want to know how this happened, here it is. On July 21st, at 6:01 PM, I was traveling 10 miles on my motorcycle from my parent’s house to mine, it was like any other day, but the impatience of one person will now impact the next 10 weeks of my life.
It happened in a flash, I saw a burgundy sedan sitting at a stop sign ready to exit their neighborhood and a horrible feeling gripped my stomach. I said out loud “don’t do it,” but they failed to look in the direction I was traveling and decided it was their time to enter the flow of traffic. They panic stopped in front of me as a car traveling the opposite way approached them faster than they had anticipated, and I was left with less than a second to choose between two actions: run headfirst into the back driver-side door, or lay my motorcycle down and take my chances with the pavement. I hit my back brake, slowly squeezed my front brake, kicked my back tire out from under me, and before I knew it I was laying face-up in the center of the road. This was one of the scariest experiences of my life, but after playing the scenario over and over again in my head, there’s nothing I could have done to prevent it.
This is of course a less than ideal situation, but there are some positives that have come from it. I’ve come to a few realizations, and I’m going to share those with you today.
Risk Is A Part Of Life, and Fear is A Roadblock
If you ride motorcycles you’ve heard it time and time again, “that’s just an accident waiting to happen,” and that’s a true statement. There are two types of riders; those who have wrecked, and those who haven’t wrecked yet, but that’s just something we all accept when we climb on our favorite bike and turn the key for the day’s ride. It’s a risk we take, but it’s the price we pay for doing something we love.
I’ve spent a lot of time in my life letting fear get in the way of things I want, and even though I’m laying here with a broken leg and displaced ankle, all I can think about is when I get to ride my bike again, and planning all of the slopes I’ll be on when snowboarding season finally gets here. I’m ready for the big jumps and jibs, and hopefully, I’ll have rodeo 540’s down by the end of the season.
Why would I continue participating in dangerous activities after experiencing the consequences? Well, it’s simple, life isn’t about living inside of a bubble.
Momento Mori: “Remember that you must die.” This phrase has sat in my brain since I adopted stoicism into my life many years ago, but I never really accepted it until now. The only guarantee in this life is that we will all one day die, and I believe the biggest fear I have is letting fear prevent me from doing the things I love. It might sound like I have a death wish, but it’s quite the opposite; I want to live, not just be alive.
What Have I Let Slip Away?
One of the most commonly used phrases in my vocabulary throughout the last few years has been, “I’ll do it later.”
When I think about Momento Mori, I realize that there are so many things I’ve put off, and a few that I may very well regret on my deathbed. Here’s an example.
If you’re a fan of metalcore, punk rock, hardcore, or any alternative music you’ll know that one of the most exciting experiences is seeing one of your favorite bands perform an album in its entirety. I’ve missed out on several of these shows because I didn’t have anyone to go with me, but recently I’ve stopped letting that affect me. In April of this year, I attended my first show truly solo, and I’m so glad I did. Stretch Arm Strong, Hopesfall, and Advent all reunited to perform as the kings of Carolina hardcore/metalcore, and this was a once-in-a-lifetime experience. I’m so glad I made the road trip to Columbia, SC for a night of nostalgia, and I will do my best to never miss out on events such as this again.
As an example, I missed seeing Four Year Strong, one of my favorite bands, play Rise Or Die Trying in its entirety, and I’ll probably regret that for the rest of my life. Sounds a bit extreme, but if you like this type of music you’ll understand my strong feelings.
As far as the youtube channel I link at the bottom of every article, I’ll be back to making videos again soon. I enjoy the process, despite being a wasteman at heart.
In Conclusion
Life is whatever we choose to make it. Some might enjoy every second of leisure, some enjoy working non-stop, and some like to travel the country in a remodeled van while documenting every step of the journey (if that’s you, I’m a bit jealous).
Breaking my leg has been painful, it’s scary, but I’m lucky it wasn’t worse. I still have plenty of life left in me, and I’m going to make every second count.
Thank you for reading!
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