Letting Go of Limitations

When I was 23, I was in a head-on collision.  

It was early December. I was crossing Hwy 3, driving from Leamington to Amherstburg, Ontario, when I was struck by a truck.  

It was completely my fault.  

The truck was in my blind spot, and I didn’t see it until it was too late. 

The outcome from this collision was mixed. The other driver was fine - thank goodness. I also didn’t have any broken bones. What I did have was a serious concussion. 

I lost my short-term memory - I couldn’t remember who I spoke with on the phone, seconds after the conversation ended.  

I got lost going to the mailbox that was at the end of the driveway.   

My hair became frizzy.  

I had a bad limp that had no physical explanation for it.   

My voice was barely a whisper, and I couldn’t sing a note. 

Of all these impediments, losing my voice was most concerning; I was in teacher’s college at the time. My areas of speciality were English and vocal music. It is difficult to teach any class, let alone a vocal music class, if your voice is gone.  

Perhaps my concussion didn’t allow me to think clearly. Or perhaps it was my mother, a nurse practitioner, and the smartest person I know, who said that things would get back to normal in about 3 months (Side note: She actually had no idea and feared I may never get better.)  

So, I didn’t let the situation deter me. I had hope. More than hope. I believed my situation was “normal”, and healing was just around the corner. I took the entire situation in stride. 

A week or two after the accident I was driving again. I didn’t even think twice about getting behind the wheel. 

I returned to my practice teaching placement right before Christmas. My appearance and my voice hadn’t improved much, but I wanted to finish the last three days I was scheduled.  

When my voice started to improve, I took singing lessons to my voice back in shape.  

No one limited or discouraged me from trying. So, I never felt limited or discouraged. And three months after the accident, almost to the day, I was back to normal. 

It may have been pure coincidence that I healed as my mother predicted.  Or maybe it was my ignorance from the potential negative outcomes. However, without restrictions or limits, I forged ahead.  

A lesson I can take away from this experience, almost twenty years later, is the importance of freeing myself from limiting thoughts.  

How many times in my life have I knowingly or unknowingly limited myself? How many times have I put up false or potentially false barriers? If I had just kept moving forward in these situations, like I did after my car accident, maybe outcomes would be different. I’ll never know. 

All I can do is recognize when I put limitations on myself. And instead of convincing myself of why I am not good enough or should give up, I must flip this thinking around. Positive self-talk is so much more productive.  

This is easier said than done, of course, but there is so much potential gain. 

In the week or weeks ahead, I encourage both you and I to recognize the limitations you put on yourself. You may find yourself convincing yourself to not try something because of some potential negative outcome or barrier. Rather than letting it stop you, try leaning into the experience or opportunity. See what happens. It might surprise you.