Nearly 30 years ago, Jesse Billauer was an up-and-coming pro surfer.
Then on May 25, 1996, he suffered a surfing accident that rendered him a quadriplegic. He was 17.
Today he’s a three-time adaptive surfing world champ, father, motivational speaker, and founder of the Life Rolls On Foundation. In the post below, Billauer recognizes the anniversary of his life-changing accident with a seriously inspiring perspective.
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Captioning the post, Billauer wrote:
“This anniversary seems to come around quicker as the years speed by. March 25th.
“The day that started on a surfboard and ended in a hospital bed. After so much time has passed, it’s no longer as much what happened on March 25th, as what I’m doing about it. I used to focus on challenging physical barriers.
“I got back to the ocean by creating my own kind of surfing. It wasn’t called ‘adaptive’ back then. It was called ‘Jesse and friends throwing caution to the wind and hoping it worked.’”
Eventually, he shares his “surefire equation” to build mental health:
“Break down each and every ‘I can’t’ in your brain; speak your dreams into reality; and build a community of support. I realized early on I could not afford to waste time seeing the ‘cannots’ of life. I could not afford thinking in the past tense…’I used to…’ ‘I could have…’ Instead, replace each ‘I can’t’ with ‘I DID.’
“You can do anything. Maybe differently than you had originally planned. But you can do it. Speak your dreams into existence. Give voice to every passion.”
After highlighting the importance of community, he continues:
“Tomorrow is not promised. But the love of life IS. Life loves you. Love it back. Speak your wild dreams into reality. Bring your friends along for the ride. And know that you’re pretty perfect.
“On this day, March 25th, the horizon is bright. I am grateful, and I hope you are, too.”
Click on the post for Billauer’s message in its entirety and a heavy dose of gratitude.
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