Atomic Events
This is an adapted excerpt from Chapter 1 of my new book; please enjoy!
“The explosion is charged with such force that it changes your worldview for the balance of your existence. You never look at your life in the same way as you once did.”
On April 26, 2011, I heard what I had been fearing, “You have Parkinson’s Disease.” Even though I was convinced before the appointment that I had Parkinson’s Disease (PD), it was still an incredible shock to have it professionally confirmed by the neurologist. I was now officially a “Parkie.”
Those four words, “You have Parkinson’s Disease,” started the largest Atomic Event in my life to date. Other Atomic Events have followed since then, like cancer. Before I continue, I’ll fill you in on what I mean by “Atomic Events”. They are the events that happen in your life — divorce, cancer, or the loss of a loved one — that change your life as you have known it. The change is forever. I describe it as the collision of unexpected and unwanted events clashing with the daily demands of your normal life, which creates an explosion of unintended negative consequences that permanently change your life view.
The explosion is charged with such force that it changes your worldview for the balance of your existence. You never look at your life in the same way as you once did. This explosion, which you can do nothing about, gives off an energy force so strong that it could completely destroy your life. Or if properly harnessed, can actually enhance your life as it has mine. That is going to be the core lesson from this book.
I have always been a driven person; as I’ve described myself earlier, I’m a hard-charging, Type A, Warlord of Commerce. I think it stems from always trying to prove myself worthy of my parents’ praise and attention. I was the middle child of the family and had a number of medical and hearing problems in my childhood. My hearing problems led to a delay and stunting of my growth, and I weighed only 25 lbs. when I was 5-years-old. By the time I graduated from high school, I was just 5’ tall and weighed 105 lbs. My older brother, who is highly intelligent and athletic, was a hard person to follow in school and sports. My sister was the apple of my father’s eye — and like many daughters — she commanded his undying devotion. This is no one’s fault. It is just human nature that parents seem to connect to one child more than another. Regardless, I was always trying to prove myself.
I did learn quickly in life to play to my strengths, and one strength was the ability to influence people. I have always had a gift of being able to read other people quickly. The combination of my (formerly) small stature and gift of influence allows me to have a positive impact on others. It has led me in a lifelong pursuit of implementing thought models to help people see the direction they should go. I call this positive use of my gift “influence with integrity”. Like all gifts, you have to be mindful of how you deploy them in your life. I believe through learning and working with “thought models”, you can get people to see the vision of what needs to be accomplished in order to achieve the desired goal.
Over time, I have learned how to harness my positive and negative emotional energy turning them into something worthwhile. That is not to say that I don’t have really horrible days, fears and anxiety, but I always come back to the solutions that I describe in this book. Whether you have PD, cancer, or some other debilitating or degenerative disease, I hope and pray that the ideas set forth in this book will help you harness the negative energy which comes with a similar diagnosis. Moreover, I wish you the ability to transform this harnessed energy into hope, joy, grace, and the promise of a better quality of life.
Your Atomic Event might involve Parkinson’s or some other catastrophic disruption. Regardless of the initial form this event takes as it bursts into your life, I want you to see it as a twisting helix. You can either let it spiral downward — out of control; or you can choose to rise with it, as it forces you to gain new understanding and discover a renewed sense of purpose in your existence.
Stay strong, God’s speed,
Greg Ritscher
Be sure to post in the comments below if you have some thoughts you want to share with everyone. Also, check out my new book, I wrote it for all of us!
