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As a survivor of a Traumatic Brain Injury, I experienced a rebirth in my life. As someone who had to re-learn how to successfully work and share with people in every aspect of life, there is one practice that applies everywhere. That practice is patience. Patience is fed with the ability to listen, stay centered and be thoughtful. Trust in those things and there will be patience. Patience proves that the old phrase endures: Good things come to those who wait.

What are you waiting for? To get better from an illness? For a loved one to recover from a traumatic experience? To have enough money for a down-payment on a house? To get in shape? For your roses to blossom? The list of what people wait for is endless. Each “wait” has varying degrees of urgency, I should know.

As I healed, I was not medically cleared to work for 18 months. A classic Type A personality, that was like a death sentence to me. I actually had to wait until my neurologist cleared me to work? Oh my! I used that time to finish my Master’s Degree, another exercise in patience.

When it was time to go back to work, the world had changed and so had I. To re-enter the workforce in my 40’s with a huge gap in my resume was another challenge. Not only had the world changed: I had also changed over my lengthy absence from the work force.

The work that was available to me wasn’t bad, but it didn’t use many of my skills, knowledge or abilities. Those skills were obvious to those around me, so I started my own small business. My business is a success, but has a long way to go to fulfill my vision for it.

Without patience, my business would not have the chance it deserves. And as I work on it and wait for it to grow into its full potential, I have never felt more confident. Patience is a key nutrient for any project to grow and sustain. Without it, I would not have recovered successfully enough to share my strengths with the world.

The best friend of patience is the ability to listen. If my patience is running out with another person, I take a deep breath, listen and ask them questions. This gives them the chance to say more and gives me more time to understand them. In addition to that person’s perspective, listening gives me the chance to breathe, think and get centered. That nurtures my patience and delivers good outcomes.

To listen, to be centered and to be thoughtful are all good ingredients for success. Those ingredients need patience to survive and to thrive. My most coveted outcome was a good recovery so that I could work again. Patience gave me that with a bonus: the state of mind to weather any storm and to recognize the unexpected gifts my new life has to offer. Good things come to those who wait.

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Lynda McGuirk survived a motor vehicle accident in the Berkshire Mountains of Western Massachusetts that landed her in a coma for six weeks. When McGuirk regained consciousness, she learned that she’d suffered a traumatic brain injury (TBI), a condition that made even simple things in life difficult.

As McGuirk searched for resources to ease the transition, she found plenty of books by neurologists and social workers, but very few written by actual survivors of TBI—people with first-hand knowledge of the experience of piecing a life back together after a brain injury.

So, after getting her own life back on track, McGuirk decided to fill the void and wrote this simple yet powerful guide to help anyone who has suffered a TBI to reclaim and enjoy his or her life.

With her intimate knowledge of the challenges faced by survivors and the arduous recovery process, McGuirk equips readers to tackle head-on the challenges of reentering life after TBI, including straightening out finances, dealing with housing challenges, and resuming work.

With humor, grace, and compassion, McGuirk shares her experiences as a patient and survivor in the hope of encouraging others affected by TBI in their journey toward recovery.

For more information, please visit mcguirkmanagement.com

This Post Has 4 Comments

  1. Patience and continued effort for our life is very important. Thanks for your unforgettable experience.

  2. Congratulations, and wishes for continued healing and success to you! The resilience that you had learned pre-incident is, I am sure, is probably a huge factor in your moving forward, as is that of your encouraging inner circle. We don’t think about patience too often. Yours here brings it to the forefront.

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