I am 36 years old. I am also a paraplegic. I have been in a wheelchair for 7 years now. Before my accident, which was work related, I was a selfish, self-loathing, self-pity machine. I abused drugs. I abused alcohol. I seduced married women. I was a rotten human being.

The day I was injured started out like most of my days, hung-over. After 30 minutes of being at work my life changed forever. I was now paralyzed from the waist down and I would have to accept that fact for the rest of my life.

This is the weird part. One would think that I would bury myself in self-pity at this point. I had just lost the use of my legs. I could no longer have sex(orgasm). I could no longer jump out of bed or jump out of the car. Everything that I used to take for granted would now become more difficult.

Amazingly, I did not slip into the dark world of depression or self-pity. Amazingly, I was thankful to be alive. I believe that GOD spared my life. Immediately after the accident, while I was gasping for breath due to a left punctured lung, I asked God to spare my life. And He did.

Not many people get a second chance to change their lives. I was blessed with a second chance. Now I am not going to lie, I could still be a better person. I probably should be doing volunteer work with all my free time. I am by no means perfect. But I do not drink or do drugs anymore, and I do not chase married women.

My revelation, strangely enough, did not come to me when I got my second chance. It came to me when I was in rehab. Across the hall from my room there was a young girl. She was 20-21 years old. She had a car accident after she passed out at the wheel and was paralyzed from the neck down. Diabetic shock was the reason she passed out. She was a newly wed. She was also pregnant, a fact that she did not know until after she was hurt.

Within a week this young girl found out that she had diabetes, she lost her baby because of the diabetic shock, she had to come to terms with the fact that she would always be a quadriplegic, and to top all that off, when her new husband realized the enormity of his and her situation, he left. He could not deal with all of these facts. It was too much. I am not sure how this girl's story ends because I left the rehab center before she did.

My revelation is this: All you have to do is look around to find someone in worse shape than you.

Be grateful for what you have. Make a point to thank GOD every single day for everything you love and cherish.

It can all change in the wink of an eye.

Learn more about this author, Keith Smitherman.
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