"I Have To Make This Mean Something"

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I was sitting in front of my computer taking care of some finance things, some facebook things, some writing things, oh and making sure I get enough caffeine so I can function and not fall asleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep.

Oops. (LOL)

Seriously, while I’m doing this, I’m watching Olympics on my second computer s\creen and they have a special going about Brianna Scurry - former goalie of the US Women’s National Soccer who suffered a traumatic brain injury during her playing career when a player from the other team’s knee collided with her head. It hurts just to think about it.

As she’s recovering, she said something that struck me…

“I Have to Make This Mean Something.”

We’re all dealing with “something” and it has changed our lives.

We’re all dealing with “something” that has, in many ways, made us different than we were before.

I know I am.

Some of it is good – and some of it is not so good.

Some of it makes us better, deeper, and more profound people.

Some of it makes us have to work hard, often very hard, to be able to overcome the obstacles that this 3 letter nuisance puts in our ways.

That brings up some questions in my mind. I’d love to hear y’all’s wisdom about it…

  1. When you hear the statement, “I have to make this mean something” what does that “something” mean to you?

  2. How can we as a group “mean something” for the larger AVM population?

  3. How can we help each other, in an organized and well structured way that maximizes the impact?

  4. How can we “mean something” when there are days where seeing straight, hearing and even just plain getting out of bed are difficult?

I’d love to hear your thoughts, all of you, all of us…

TJ

For the record, I believe that the goal of this site, helping others not feel all alone, is in itself completely and totally meaning something and completely worthwhile…

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Wisdom you call it, hmmm, don’t know about wisdom. More like ‘ramblings’ than wisdom, but here’s my interpretation:
When I hear “I have to make this mean something” To me it means to make use of our experiences and our knowledge for the better. For a while I fell into a pit of the ‘Poor me’s’, which turned from ‘Poor me’ to ‘Pour me’ and I went looking for answers in the bottom of a whiskey bottle. I found the bottom of the bottle really quick, but trying to get back out… …Ohh what a journey… …not one I’d recommend to anyone. But, I learnt some knowledge and some valuable skills, well valuable to me. I decided to put those skills and experiences, both good and bad, to use or to “make this mean something”, using my knowledge to assist others, like “Ahhh, don’t do that, 'cos I did and this is what happened…” And still today, 30+yrs on I still try to do the same thing today. We ALL have unique skills and knowledge, every one of us. None of us have taken exactly the same route (Well, I hope nobody EVER follows my route). Sharing those skills, sharing that knowledge makes them more valuable than gold.

How can we as a group “mean something” for the larger AVM population?
I try not to think that big. I think that individuals are going to connect with differing groups. Nobody can be everything to everybody, trying to do that ends up with you being spread far too thinly. There are some people we connect with strongly, others who have a similar understanding and by the same accord there are others who we may have very little connection with. If I can relate to one person, that’s one person less that’s wondering “Am I the only one?” Because that’s a very lonely place to be.

How can we help each other, in an organized and well structured way that maximizes the impact?
Now that I’m unsure of. I’m not a great one for structures. :smile:

How can we “mean something” when there are days where seeing straight, hearing and even just plain getting out of bed are difficult?

Just in saying exactly that.
“Some days it’s my sight that’s an issue” Yea, me too
“Some days it’s my hearing that’s an issue” Ohh, Yea, me too
"Some days…stop the world, I want to get off this ride…

TJ others need to hear this. They need to hear it from people who have been there and lived it because others who haven’t been here really have no idea how bad BAD can be. As I said to another member the other week

"This can all seem so isolating because it is isolating. Luckily, not everybody goes through anything like this, so really they have no clue of the realities of it all. No book can give you those realities.

Come talk to us because we’ve lived it too…"

I cannot tell you how much of a “Phew” moment it was for me to know I wasn’t as alone as I felt.

(PLEASE NOTE: All of this is merely MY personal opinion and nothing else)

Merl from the Modsupport team

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