The Shift
Things were good, real good. No complaints just your normal everyday gripes. Boom! One year ago, today (February 17, 2011) I was hit by a car while walking as a pedestrian in a parking lot and suffered a fractured Tibia.
I was in the best physical shape of my life. My physical endurance was at it’s peak. I was even training to run my first half-marathon. In a blink of an eye. Fractured Tibia. Crutches. Brace. Surgery. I could not understand why. Why? Oh, I questioned why. The one thing I knew for sure I’d have to keep my spirits high to get through this trying time. Healing, rehabbing.
Sure, my positive outlook helped, but it was by the grace of God that I made it through that trying time. Not only did I make it through, but I’ve triumphed. Being struck by a car was a catalyst to a new beginning. It was a segue to a new chapter. Sometimes unfortunate things occur to shift us in another direction, put us in another space. Perhaps the space or place we are in, isn’t bad. It’s just not the space or place intended for us to be in. I respect that and fully understand that now. I was comfortable with things as they were, but things were not as they should be. Things were not as the universe intended for me. The events that have happened over the course of the past year were all a well-designed plan. I could not see why then, but I see clearly now.
Like legendary football coach, Vince Lombardi said: “It’s not whether you get knocked down, it’s whether you get up.” I’m UP!
Chrisetta Mosley
I am a product – and now a survivor – of childhood obesity. As a child, my family always told me that my extra weight was merely baby fat and I’d eventually grow out of it. I never did. Instead, my childhood is filled with memories of not being able to ride a bike, flattening its training wheels from being over the recommended weight, and avoiding P.E. classes by any means necessary. For years, I wore my fatness like a wounded soldier wears a Purple Heart - with pride. I owned the look. I dressed it up. I worked the room. There wasn't a skinny girl who intimidated me. I made sure my hair was laid just right. Nails polished. Outfits coordinated to the tee. Accessories to compliment every outfit. But everyone has a breaking point, and mine came in the spring of 2004 when I tipped the scale at nearly 400 pounds 388 to be exact. I was MISERABLE trapped inside of that body. I no longer wore my Purple Heart with pride. Rather, I was ashamed and frightened. Ashamed that I had allowed food to become my everything – frightened I would die because of it. Drastic times called for drastic measures... Today, I’m bound and determined to live a better, healthier, active lifestyle. I realize I’m no longer a passenger in my life, I’m the driver. I’m overcoming my inhibitions and I’m slowly but surely saying farewell to my old childhood nemesis, obesity. For once and for all, Farewell Fatso!