Joana Lopez

Transcript

the paramedic asked miss can you move your leg I can't move it I answered miss can you move your other leg I can't move it either why can i no feel my legs what's happening my heart was beating out of my chest as I tried to make sense of what was going on I was surrounded by people I did not recognize and god I was so scared this is how I got here early that year committed to a plan that will help me achieve my goals I thought if I reach this financial goal by the end of the year I'm gonna be able to invest

money time and finally focus in my business I was eager to spread my message through my work and I didn't want to waste that much time so I work as many hours as I could working 18 hours a day I was a server bartender and a coach working from 6:00 a.m. to 1:00 a.m. until one night the universe did for me what I couldn't do for myself it just slowed me down I was working at the restaurant that night and it was very late and I was very exhausted and we can call this chapter the door that was in there a moment ago I saw

her yes I walk into a glass door and you know how funny it is when you see those videos of people walking into glass doors and the harder the heat the funnier it is well it's not that funny when it happens to you hours later covered in blood half unconscious and in the worst pain I've ever been in I found myself in the emergency room there was so much noise and confusion and my head was spinning the doctors say miss you have a brain injury and it's gonna take time for you to fully recover and fully function I didn't I didn't know what the doctor

meant by that I thought wait have what no I have work to do I have to admit I did not believe what the doctor was saying I thought that nothing happened to happy positive people I'm sure we'll be totally fine by next week so I did what any positive person would do and you know what the doctors say I tried to rest but I didn't take it too seriously until I couldn't handle the physical pain all the signals in my brain was shutting down and one morning I woke up worse than ever the pain was horrible so I went to the pharmacy and on the

way back I passed out in the elevator someone called the ambulance and I walked to the paramedic trying to get me back and I couldn't feel or move half of my body I was terrified and he told panic I didn't know what to do and in that moment I realized the doctor was definitely not kidding that was my wake-up call I knew in that moment sweetie had to change the following month were the words I was fighting back in the best way I could but then leaned on social media that I was someone I was not lying to my family back home about my situation

completely broke I was hiding and scary things got worse I couldn't retain information like usual or work in any capacity I was spending all my money and I was not getting better my memory was failing me my sight was messed up and there were times I couldn't sustain a conversation for longer than half an hour and if you know me well you know I like talking I was completely devastated not understanding why this was happening to me so when I no longer was able to control the situation I did they only think I could turn to spirit I surrendered to my situation and I went

into a journey of acceptance yes I had to accept that this was in fact happening and it would not go away overnight acceptance was the key to my invention it was time to let go of my plans and trust the magis struggles were part of a bigger plan to help me get closer to consciousness to help me remember how would in me that somehow had had forgotten I had to forgive myself for getting into this mess and when nothing seemed to make sense back then I have to find happiness in the unique insanity of what I was it was time to practice what I preach

I didn't magically recover I saw 23 doctors including especially some physiotherapists and it took me a year and four months to fully recover from my brain injury the magic happened when I finally accepted my situation somehow in the middle of the chaos more people were getting to know about my business and we're curious about it I discovered that there is in fact a spiritual guidance available to all of us beyond our comprehension but nothing can interfere unless we learn to ask this accident led me to opportunities and risk I would not have taken otherwise you know I need this speech more than anyone writing this

speech was my therapy to no longer feel bad for what happened sharing it with you was my way to tell the universe I am ready to be free from misperceptions about who we are and who we are not long ago I have chosen to believe that in any moment of adversity we can choose to invent our lives now I have learned that convention begins with acceptance acceptance of our current circumstances and acceptance of the possibility of better today I have accepted that nothing happens by accident but there is in fact a reason behind all the struggles the letting go over plans can create new ones

and the decision to accept where we are help us become the authors to invent our own stories thank you everyone

Transcript generated from the recording and lightly cleaned. Some names and wording may differ from the spoken speech.