How did you do on taking five minutes each day this past week to find your WOW moments?!  I hope you were able to find those special happenings in your life and that it isn't just a week long exercise but a daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly habit!  

There is always the seed of opportunity planted in the field of discouragement and despair.  Leaders see the opportunity and HOPE, while followers see the problems.”

The definition of attitude is, “predisposition or a tendency to respond positively or negatively towards a certain idea, objection, person or situation.”  Wikipedia says, “attitude influences the person’s emotion and behavior.”

I've written about attitude in the past.  Watching the news coverage of Amy Van Dyken Rouen brings this topic to a whole new level for me.  I know there are many other people who are also dealing with severe health issues, and they too are leaders, in accordance to the definition above.  This blog focuses on Amy, although, I welcome your own stories of others who you recognize having this positive attitude. 

As a young child, Amy suffered with severe asthma throughout her childhood and even into adulthood.  Doctors suggested swimming to strengthen her lungs to cope with the condition and prevent future asthma attacks.  We didn't hear much about all the tears learning to swim, the frustrations, the challenges etc. but they were there.  Those of us in Colorado heard more about Amy as she became a competitive swimmer.  Originally going to Arizona to college, Amy transferred to CSU and from there, the world learned about her as she won a total of six gold Olympic medals in swimming. 

June 6^th of this year changed Amy’s life as she knew it.  After having dinner with her husband, Tom Rouen, former CU and Denver Bronco football player, Amy was in an ATV accident leaving her fighting for her life.  A severed spine left her paralyzed from just below the waist, and now Craig Hospital, in Denver, has become her “home” for the past several months.

Remarkably, from the beginning, Amy chose joy and from all reports she remains upbeat.  I was blown away by a quote I read early in the days she began her rehab at Craig, “Every day you take a breath is a blessing.  Sometimes we take it for granted.  You can get through anything as long as you have a positive attitude.  Once you have that negative attitude, you kind of go down that rabbit hole, and it’s really hard to get out.”  I don’t know about you, but I wrote this down as I am inspired by this young woman.  The quote is there for me to read if I ever get into my own pity party. 

At the hospital, she has learned to drive with hand controls, dress herself, pick up things off the floor and the list goes on. Yes, she’s safely driving around Denver.  J  Her goal is to get her driver’s license when she returns to Arizona. (More goal setting.) In addition, Amy talks about having gone out boating, visiting the zoo, and actually climbing into a kayak.  Really?!  Exciting and scary all at the same time from my perspective, but there is definitely a “can do” spirit that permeates her very being and comes across in her social media posts.

It hasn't all been a cake walk by any stretch of the imagination.  In fact, Amy does say she has shed a lot of tears, and it hasn't been an easy road.  When Matt Lauer from the Today Show interviewed her, she had a schedule of 8:00 in the morning until around 4:30 in the afternoon consumed with rehab.  Dedication, hard work, being supported by a team, learning new ways to do what had been an easy task before the accident are a few of the characteristics of that positive attitude Amy possesses.  There is no positive energy in complaining and pulling out the “poor pitiful me card.”  Jim Rohn says, “What you focus on expands.”  I think we can all agree that Amy has no time for the negative and focuses on all the can do’s and the gradual accomplishments.  Yet, she has been quoted as saying,  “I don’t want to portray the fact that because I had a smile on my face that it really is easy.  It’s really not.  It’s life changing.”  In talking with Matt Lauer and asked what she wanted to be able to do at the end of her time at Craig Hospital, Amy, without hesitation stated, I want to walk out of here.” 

The latest update on Amy is she is testing out special equipment, an exoskeleton, called Indego.  And guess what?!  With this equipment she IS walking.  She is going to be the test case for the Indego to get it approved by the FDA.  This young woman continues to leave me in awe, and I’m definitely inspired.  There is absolutely no reason for me to whine and complain with the trivial conflicts, disappointments, and frustrations I may have in my life and I have no reason, no excuse not to do something different with a positive attitude!  In addition, Amy has taught me through her attitude, perseverance, consistent focus and determination that victories come in many different ways and forms.  She has changed the lives of each patient at Craig as well as the doctors and support staff.  Yet she is the one that thanks the staff and other patients.  “They have really taught me a lot about the world.”  I think we will all be watching as Amy Van Dyken-Rouen becomes a new voice for spinal cord injuries.  She is well on her way to making a huge difference in so many ways and with so many people.

I have heard it said by many well-known speakers that we each have our own struggles.  The difference is how we choose to deal with them.  It’s in my observation and my personal take away that this spirited young woman, former Olympian, continues to be a competitor, and definitely WILL make an impact in her “new world.”  Thank you, Amy Van Dyken Rouen, and I wish you THE best in all that you do in your life.