We all face adversity at some point in our lives. That’s just life. Sometimes it is something we can deal with verily quickly. Other times it knocks us for a loop.

Some people have shared I do a great job handling all the adversity I have faced the past 16 years. Believe me, it has not been easy. It has taken a lot of practice.

Here are several tools that have helped me deal with adversity in my life. Hopefully, they can help you. Remember, it will take a lot of practice.

1). Seek out support. We cannot deal with the storms alone. We need others. Having someone to talk to during the storms of life can help relieve some of the tension. They can also provide a different perspective. Just be sure the people in your inner circle are positive, caring, and have your best interest at heart.

2). Keep Positive. Yes, stay positive. It is easier said than done. Smile even when you do not feel like it. The benefits of being positive can improve your overall health and extend your lifespan. Also, people love hanging out with positive people.

3). Practice Healthy Habits. Follow a healthy diet, getting a good nights sleep (I am still working on that one), and exercise each day. Even a short walk can make a huge difference. Take time for yourself. A healthy you can make a wonderful difference.

4). Look outside yourself. Some of my sweetest moments have been praying for other people. Take time to listen to their stories. Simply being friendly to a stranger can make a huge difference. Making the choice to slow down to listen and help others can give you a different perspective on your own issues.

5). Write things down. I have never been much of a writer, but during this crazy/beautiful health journey God has given me a lot to say. Writing has helped me express myself and unclutter my thoughts. Writing things down can help you better understand the things going on in your life. Writing things down can also help you get past the storms you are facing.

These are just a few ways I overcome the adversity in my life. I encourage you to find the tools that will help you overcome the storms in your life. ~OC

During this 16 year crazy/beautiful health journey, my main prayer has been “If I can encourage just one person…all the pain and struggles is worth it.”

Imagine if you were told during the past 16 years, you would be diagnosed with Cancer, Parkinson’s, Myasthenia Gravis and Gastroparesis. That is my story. Of course that is just part of the story. There is so much more to the story than health issues.

This journey has been difficult. The struggle is real. At times I have wondered how I would make it another day. That is where my faith in God helped me during my darkest days. The victories I have experienced, as well as my strength and passion for life, come from my relationship with God, my family, friends and the many people God has brought into my life during this crazy/beautiful health journey.

After a 10 year break from speaking, I believe God is calling me to share about this crazy/beautiful journey he has me on. It is story about struggles, pain, victories, hope and overcoming. I will be sharing it all. My goal for sharing my story is to encourage others going through their own storms.

If you would be interested in hearing more about my story of overcoming, feel free to contact me. You can go to my Contact Page and send me a note. ~OC

During this crazy/beautiful health journey I have learned a lot. Here are just a few lessons learned along the journey.

1). Turn a negative into a mission. I have shared about my 16 year and counting crazy/beautiful health journey. I made the choice early on to turn my health journey into a ministry of encouraging others. My health issues have cost me a lot in life, the ability to work, run and talk. It would have been very easy to just throw up my hands and give up. But that would have been the easy thing to do. The hard part was making the choice to turn this negative into a positive. This has not always been easy, but the rewards have been amazing. God has blessed me with so many opportunities to share His story during this journey. God has allowed me to use this journey to encourage so many people. There has been so many amazing memories during this crazy/beautiful journey. I am a better person because of this journey.

2). Choosing to be Grateful: Taking a breath in the morning. Being able to walk without the aid of a walker, cane or wheelchair. And having an amplifier to help me speak. Being able to drink Ensures. Spending time with family and friends. Having a wonderful medical team. The opportunity to keep fighting human trafficking. Getting a text from a friend sharing they are praying for me. Laura and I still being able to take trips. These are just a few things I am grateful for in life.

It’s the small things in life. Taking time to find the beauty in the seemingly insignificant moments in life. I think the choice to be grateful is one of the greatest decisions we can make in life.

3). Humor is Great Medicine: This journey has been filled with humorous moments. The book Laura and I are writing will be filled with funny stories. Humor has helped us get through some very tough moments. Laura and I tend to have a lot of dark humor in our life. Some people are turned off by our type of humor. When people share their displeasure with our type of humor, I always tell them to get their own incurable diseases and they can share their type of humor. What works for us may not work for others. That’s okay. We all have our own journey.

Funny things happen every day. Do yourself a favor and don’t get so caught up in the serious moments that you cannot have a few laughs. Laughter actually helps improve your health.

4). Don’t Be Afraid to Think Outside the Box: One of the greatest things we can do is think outside the box. That is for every area of life. If I would have made the choice to stay inside my little box, I would have missed so many things. I mean who decides to run marathons after not running for 20 years, being diagnosed with cancer and recovering from open-heart surgery? I made that choice and experienced some of the greatest moments in my life. Who gets diagnosed with Young-Onset Parkinson’s and goes skydiving to celebrate? That was an amazing experience I will never forget. Who decides to be a missionary at doctors appointments and hospital stays? God has blessed me with so many beautiful moments since I made that decision.

It is easy to make the choice to stay in our safe little boxes. Staying in our safe boxes can keep us from being hurt. It can keep people at arms length. But that’s not living. That is just surviving. I want to Thrive.

These are just four lessons I have learned during this crazy/beautiful health journey. There are many more and maybe I will share more at another time. I just wanted to share a few to hopefully encourage someone today. ~OC

I spent a good part of my life living. Most would say that’s a good thing. I used to think the same way, but the last few months my thinking as switched. Let me explain.

I used to think living was enough. I would get up in the morning like everyone else. I would go to work and try to make a difference. I would hang out with friends. I was helping fight human trafficking. Even when my health starting declining again in 2009, I was still living. Heck, I even became a missionary at doctors appointments and hospital stays. I was living life even during the worst days of my life. But recently I realized living wasn’t enough. I needed to thrive.

During my recent trip to Emory Medical in Atlanta, God showed me there was a difference between living and thriving. It was during that trip that God challenged me to stop just living, but to start thriving. What did thriving mean? God revealed that I had become too caught up in my health journey. I was sort of surprised by this revelation. I thought I was living a life not defined by my health issues. But as God spoke to my heart, he shared that my life centered around my health. God reminded that my life was more than my latest diagnosis. He forced me to look deep inside and see if I was really living out what I was sharing in conversation and on social media. Did I really believe that God could do all that he had promised he was going to do in my life? Sadly, I was not truly living out everything I was saying. In public yes, but in private no. It was a wake up call. On that trip to Atlanta, God gave me a new mindset. That just living was not enough. God was challenging me to thrive in life. Not just to live.

So, that is my challenge to everyone reading this post. Take time and ask yourself if you are just living, Not the easiest conversation to have, but it could be life changing. My life has totally changed since I decided to thrive in life instead of just living life. I encourage you to thrive. ~OC

When my health took a real turn for the worse in 2009, I prayed a simple prayer. Most people thought I should be praying some big elaborate prayers to God. Maybe I should have, but a very simple prayer came to my mind.

During that scary time in March 2009, my little prayer was “God, please help me never look or act sick.” I have no idea where that prayer came from. There I was fighting for my life and my prayer was to not look or act sick. Crazy! Or was it?

Since 2009, I cannot count how many times family, friends, medical professionals and strangers have come up to me and said “Todd, you don’t look or act sick?” Some have even questioned if I am really sick. Yes, that has happened many times. I never get upset by those comments. You know why? Because each time someone makes one of those comments, I am able to share how during one of the worst moments in my life, God answered a crazy little prayer. Guess what? God is still answering that prayer.

I share this because sometimes we believe we need to pray some long and elaborate prayer for God to hear us. I thought that same way for many years. But during this crazy/beautiful health journey, God has shown me He doesn’t need a fancy prayer to hear the needs of his children. Did you hear that? God doesn’t need a long winded prayer said in Greek or Hebrew. No, God is big enough to answer a simple little prayer from the heart. I pray this brings you comfort as you walk through your own journey. ~OC

During my running days, I planned out most of my runs. I knew what marathons I wanted to run and each marathon season I would map out a schedule. Of course, I would tweak the schedule as needed. I had some big running plans scheduled. Here is what I was planning before my health took a turn for the worse.

I was planning on running across the state of Florida to help raise awareness and money for Human Trafficking and Parkinson’s Disease. In my mind, I had it all mapped out. I had spoken to a few friends, who were going to help me realize this dream. I also had a bigger dream. After completing the Florida run and taking time to recover, I planned on running across America to help bring more awareness and raise more money to help end Human Trafficking and Parkinson’s disease. Yes, some pretty big dreams, but I serve a big God. Would I have completed either one of those races? Good question. I don’t really know. You see, running across Florida and the United States was my plan. Something I dreamed of doing. But God had other plans. He had a new incredible race planned for me. One, I could never have planned myself.

I don’t believe God made me sick, but I do believe he has allowed me to walk this crazy/beautiful health journey. God has turned what some would view as a negative into a story of Overcoming. God has given me a new race to run. A race to encourage others. A race to help guide others through their own stormy journey.  It is not a race I would have chosen 16 years ago, but it is a race I never want to stop running.. ~OC

Today’s a new day! Whenever you find yourself doubting how far you can go, just remember how far you’ve come. Never give up! ~OC

Earlier this week, Laura and I had the chance to work with our writing team at RoseDale. Besides spending several hours working on our book, Laura and I had the opportunity to be interviewed by the team at RoseDale. Tampa Bay Multimedia and RoseDale make the experience fun and easy. I will post the interview, when I get a copy. You can currently see the interview at my The Blessed Overcomer Facebook Page.

As Laura and I spent time with the writing team, I truly felt God encouraging me to start looking into some speaking engagements. I have felt God prompting me to look into some speaking engagements for a few months. I remember before I got sick again in 2009, I enjoyed sharing the story God has given me. I always enjoyed the interaction with the audience. Plus, I was always blessed by the stories people in the audience would share with me.

So, Laura and I are looking for a chance to share our crazy/beautiful journey with an audience. Since Laura works full-time, I might be a solo act at times. Laura seems okay with that. HaHa! We believe our story is for many different audiences and would love to share it with them. So, if any church, ministry, small group, school, university or business would be interested in having us, you can click on the Contact Page and send me a note. Thank you. ~OC

I choose to live a life of gratitude. That is not always easy when life smacks you in the face. Can I get a Amen?

Here are some practical ways I try to live a life of gratitude:

Think of Others: When I am living in my own circumstances, it is easy to forget about the big picture. If the tragedies we have watched unfold lately as taught us anything, it is that we live in a hurting world. There is suffering all around us. When we reach out to a hurting world we are acknowledging their pain. When we are able to do that, it reminds us how blessed we are. Doing something to help someone doesn’t have to be a major project. It could paying for someone’s lunch. It could be checking on an old friend. It could be volunteering in your community. It could be taking time to mentor someone. That is gratitude in action.

Turn It Around: Life can be messy at times. This crazy/beautiful health journey I have been in for almost 16 years as been messy. It could be very easy for me to get caught up in the mess. But I decided to turn this messy journey into an opportunity. During this journey, God has allowed me to be a Missionary at doctors appointments and my many hospital stays. God has allowed me to encourage others going through their own messy journey. What a blessing that has been for me. All it took was me redirecting my thinking and attitude. Easier said than done sometimes, but I am forever grateful God helped me turn my messy situation around. God’s grace helps us find perspective when we practice the habit of gratitude.

God Has Big Shoulders: There are times when life is so messy that gratitude feels out of reach. I have experienced that several times during this crazy/beautiful health journey. When the test results and the doctors diagnosis were not what I wanted to hear gratitude was sometimes hard to find.

There were times I looked up to God and said really? Another incurable disease to add to the list. I was tired and frustrated. Guess what? God did not strike me down. He did not put me in timeout. No, He wrapped his loving arms around me and reminded me that He loved me and He was still in control. God also reminded me that I had so much to be grateful for. God had not abandoned me, rather, He was giving my wife Laura and I all the necessary things to get through this crazy/beautiful journey.

For me, living a life of gratitude is not possible without the grace of God. I encourage you to spend time talking with God and reading His word. Living a life of gratitude will keep you busy touching the lives of a hurting world. ~OC

We are all unique. We have different cultures, different languages, different colors and different beliefs. Our differences should should bring us closer together. Not divide us.

Each of us was created by a loving Heavenly Father. God created us with different talents, ideas and experiences. Yet, we all have the same basic needs. We all want to be loved, respected and accepted. We all desire to make a difference in life. We all want peace.

No one wants to be judged based on their color, culture or beliefs. We should stop judging others based on their differences and take the time to embrace those differences. Accepting those differences allows us to unite and be stronger. Accepting people that are different than us makes us better and stronger people.

Ultimately, it is our choice to judge or accept people. We will face the consequences of those choices. I believe judging and hating takes too much energy. So, I will make the choice to love and embrace the differences in the people God brings my way. ~OC