For me it was a life-altering traumatic injury in my early 20's followed by the common pitfalls associated with such an event. What turned things around for me

For me it was a life-altering traumatic injury in my early 20's followed by the common pitfalls associated with such an event. What turned things around for me was taking ownership of my situation. Understanding that while it certainly sucks, whether I continued to spiral downward or crawled my way back up was entirely up to me. It was absolutely within my power to turn it around and I chose to do so. I actually remember the exact moment the decision hit me. It took several years, and more than one attempt to get back to "functional" and feeling "normal". And 20+ years later, I still live with the consequences of that injury, that's part of me but doesn't define me. I've accomplished a lot, have a good family, career and still have a lot left to contribute. ymmv, but the tough-love mindset worked best for me: - Nobody's coming to save you. You have to save yourself. - People with extraordinary good or bad luck tend to make it themselves. - Failure is an event, not a person.