Life has a way of catching us off guard.  Even with the best laid plans, we're sometimes faced with unexpected events that derail our intentions, force us to pause, and challenge our sense of control.  Recently, I experienced this first hand when an unexpected injury forced me to cancel plans I'd been looking forward to for weeks.  I found myself feeling disappointed and wrestling with the persistent urge to find some way, anyway, to still make it happen - even though I knew, realistically, this wasn't possible.  It struck me that these moments of sudden disruption reveal how deeply ingrained our plans and routines, as well as our sense of being in control, become and how hard it can be to adapt when they're suddenly taken from us. 

In my work with individuals and families affected by brain injury, I see the impact of unexpected life changes on a different scale; life-altering events that bring immense upheaval, often leaving people to navigate a completely transformed reality. Although my own recent experience is temporary and on a much smaller scale, it has given me a renewed appreciation for the strength it takes to adjust to new limitations and uncertainties. In the face of significant change, we can find ourselves clinging to “what was,” continually searching for ways to hold on to the life we had planned.

This experience reminded me that adjusting to new circumstances, whether big or small, isn't always a linear process. Even when logic tells us to accept reality, our minds can wander back to “what ifs” and “if onlys.” Perhaps it's a natural part of human resilience, that need to exhaust every option before fully letting go. Yet sometimes, true resilience involves learning to be at peace with the present, finding strength in the uncertainty and even embracing the potential for new growth in directions we hadn't anticipated.

For those living with brain injuries, the journey often involves learning to adapt and redefine expectations, sometimes daily. Each moment of acceptance is hard-won, and each small step forward is a testament to incredible resilience. While my own situation will improve in time, this experience has deepened my understanding of how we all, in our own ways, grapple with uncertainty. It's a reminder that, although we can't always control what happens to us, we can choose how we respond to the unexpected. And sometimes in letting go of our need to control, we discover new strengths and perspectives we may never have found otherwise.