Wayne McIntyre: Each Day is a Gift

Posted on Thursday, April 18th, 2013

By Wayne McIntyre

In 1976, I learned what a moment in time can do and how it can change your life forever.

I was 32 years old, very active, had a great family, and enjoyed what I thought was important in life. In February of that year, I drove to work and went into my office where my secretary offered to make me a cup of tea.  I really don’t remember anything after that moment, because I passed out and woke up 5 days later in a hospital; not knowing who I was, where I was, or even what had happened to me.

I remained in the hospital for six months, followed by 18 months of rehabilitation before I was able to return to a home that was not equipped to support my needs.  I could not use the stairs, bedroom, or other rooms.  At that time, I thought, ‘for sure my working days are over, and now I will need to be taken care of for the rest of my life’.

When I woke up after my operation, I was not able to walk, move my left side, close my eyes, or even talk. I had very little memory, and really did not know the people around me, even my kids and wife. I had to learn how to do most things all over again, and that is what you can call, ”starting your life all over again”. There were many lessons learned, however, the biggest lesson I learned was to ‘live for the moment’, because you really never know what can change. Remember, at the age of 32 I had to learn how to live all over again.  Today, I take great pride that I am a person who can fully look after myself and still help others to reach their goals.  

When people tell me about their stresses, issues or problems, I often return to the time when I was down and out in order to pull out a lesson from my life cycle. It is hard for others to understand when they have never been there, but usually all they need to know is that life and options are in the control of the person, and not the situation.  Your life and direction is in your hands.  

Often stress comes from either not making a decision, procrastinating about making a decision, or making a decision which you do not agree with. The biggest decision in my life was made by my wife.  She made the decision that I should undergo surgery that could give me a chance to live some type of life.  The odds of success for this type of surgery were not very good at the time, and I could have died during the surgery.  In fact, my brother had the same brain tumour, and he only lived six months after the operation.  His surgery was just a few years ago.  Today, I am still making it thirty-four years later. It was not technology that got me where I am today.  Technology helped, but it was a great medical team, a great rehabilitation team, great friends, a family that cared, and most of all me…a person who wanted a second chance to live the best way I could.

What makes me who I am today is happiness.  I am happy to be here today. I love my family, my son and daughter, my grandkids, my friends and extended family, and Algonquin College. "I love life"!

Happiness is something I decide on ahead of time, not whether I like something or not.  It does not depend on how others see things; it is how I see it in my own mind. Once I make a decision it lives with me every morning when I wake up, until I decide to change it.  I had a choice…either I could spend my life in bed recounting my difficulties and let them affect me daily, or get out of bed and be thankful for the many things that have made me who I am today. Each day is a gift, and as long as my eyes open, I will focus on the new day and all the happy memories I have stored away.

I am getting old, but old age is like a bank account…you withdraw from what you have put in. So, my advice to you would be to deposit a lot of happiness in the bank account of memories. I am still depositing. Thank you for your part in filling my memory bank.

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