Katie Thompson

It’s been 19 years since I barely survived bacterial meningitis after a spinal cord injury and surgery. I simply stood up from my desk at college one day and my life changed.

Just typing that out makes my back hurt.

I don’t have a specific date that I recognize as an anniversary for this part of me life, although a few days stand out more than others. Unfortunately it was weeks of torture that destroyed my life from the in side out. I don’t know if it’s better that I don’t have one day to dwell on or not. I get a whole season.

Back in 2005 I had no idea where I would be 19 years on. I knew that the life I had thought was ahead for me had changed forever. Or had it?

I can confidently look back now and say that this is absolutely who I was meant to become. I’m not done growing and learning yet either.

Meningitis didn’t just destroy my life overnight, and the recovery from it has been just as long. Over time the effects of my illness tore me down to my very core and forced me to rebuild who I was into something better.

When you have the world flipped on you so many times you begin to appreciate those who are truly kind – the nurse who hugs you after a hard appointment. The stranger who holds the elevator door open for you. Those littles things start to mean so much more.

If there is anything I have learned from surviving meningitis, it’s that life is short, but it is beautiful. If you blink you’ll miss a moment that will never happen again and it makes every thing and person so much more precious.

Our perception of time, more so the illusion that we actually have any control of it beyond the present moment is so misleading. Each moment itself has such depth to offer, why should a single one be dismissed?

We can sit and hope that a better moment will come along, or we can yearn for ones that have passed. Or, we can grab our pens and start writing. Pick up the phone and make that call. Sign up for the class, start a hobby or lifestyle change. 

I’m not saying it will be easy. In fact, I think a good general rule for life is to automatically assume, if you dare to assume anything at all – is that life is going to be hard as shit. All of it. Even the good stuff. I don’t mean this coming from a place of despair, but determination. We know life is hard. That is not news. What could be or who you could be – still can be.

Some people may say I’m delusional or have a mindset warped by toxic positivity. It’s not my concern what people think about my outlook, as I can’t deny what is my perception of life through my experiences.

Plainly, we are so much stronger than we think we are. 

It’s not that I don’t see problems or make mistakes, quite the opposite. I sit in them, feel them, think them through. Once that is done, I have to move forward. Where do I start? I look for opportunity in the process. What can I learn from this? How can I create growth with it? What can I share from this experience? How can I transmute this into something better?

In everything I see an opportunity to make things better. I don’t want anyone to feel lonely, but to know that we can be okay when we are alone. I worry that we miss too much of what really matters, and that’s what we can give ourselves. We matter.

I have eased my own pain by turning struggle into strength. Through that I have chosen to advocate for those who know that pain, struggle and loss, and for those who don’t know, so that they never will.

I struggle to feel as though I’ve done enough, but I know that being me is enough.

I am grateful for everyone and everything this journey has brought into my life. Even the hard stuff. Especially the hard stuff. Through it I’ve received my truest gifts.