After another hot and humid day at United Parcel Service (UPS), a friend of mine gave me a lift to my home town to pick of my car that was repaired by the mechanic.
He did not have time to drive me to my sisters house so I walked a half mile to get there.
It was a dark evening as I made my way to my sisters house.
Out of no where I heard what sounded like a car, strange the engine did not seem to be on.
With the blink of an eye, I found myself on the hood of a car.
My senses told me I had been struck by a moving vehicle, but my body decided to go into shock.
My first instinct was to start running and I did.
My parents only lived a mile away and I ran to their house.
After arriving on the steps in shock my father asked me, "What is wrong with you, why are you running?" I said I was struck by a car.
My dad said, "If you were struck by a car you would not be running so fast?" The fact of the matter, I was running fast and I was on the track team in college so it made sense to me.
My mother asked me if I knew who did it.
I told my parents I did not know who hit me with their car and I did not stick around to ask.
My father got in his car and drove towards my sisters house and the car was still in the location I described to him.
My family knew the man that struck me with his vehicle, in fact we later determined he was drunk driving.
I went to the hospital and was examined and all the while I kept my focus on attending college and working on my part-time job to pay for the first car I ever owned.
When I look back on that pivotal moment in my life, it reminds me to give thanks to God because I could have been killed.
Secondly, I refused to let this setback keep me down.
Over the years I have learned to manage pain, rather than let it manage me.
By consistently exercising my spirit, mind, and body I have been able to see the world from my own perspective.
To have been given a second chance at life, I know greatness comes through adversity.
I encourage you to not yield to setbacks in your life.
Forge ahead and allow adversity in life carve out greatness for you.