If it's to be...

Make no mistake. We all write our own life story. No one does it for us—no one else controls the narrative. Whether we write it with a pen, or with our choices, our story is told by our actions. All of us leave an impression on others and the world we eventually leave behind.

Some write their stories with focused intention. They organize and follow a plan. Others experiment. They try, fail, succeed, and try something new. Still others stumble along, changing only when circumstances demand they must, struggling to find a foothold. All of us learn from others. We learn in school, from our teachers, parents, and mentors. We especially learn from and try to emulate those we admire. But often, the most important lessons are learned by accident. By this I mean, our most important lessons are inside the experience, they are behind the obvious, buried in our subconscious, but when they appear, they burst before us like magicians, miraculously clear—and these lessons change our lives forever.

Once Hugh made up his mind to heal as fully as humanly possible, he often repeated a phrase that became an integral part of how he lives his life every day. He said,
“If it’s to be, it’s up to me.” This one sentence soon defined him. He’s who he is today because he accepted what he could not change and made the very best of everything he had going for him. He’s a walking miracle, in part because he took control of his own life story—and what a life story it’s turning out to be.