Excerpt: Lost to be found ( a life changed)

(...)

“One of our listeners wanted to know what you would do if it were possible for you to get back in time and change what happened to you. Would you take that chance? Would you change the past?” he asked curiously.

Julia laughed lightly. “That is a very tough question, Paul,” she commented, biting her lower lip as she thought about her answer. “There was a time, right after the accident, when I wished for nothing more but a chance like that. If asked then, I wouldn’t even have to think for one second, my answer would be an obvious one. I would say, of course, let’s take it all back, let’s fix it so I can just get back to my old life and the way things were. It would be that simple.”

(...)

“But now. Now I’m not so sure that this would be my answer,” she said with a smile, noticing surprise written all over Paul’s face at the unexpected turn of events. But his reaction did not take her aback. Quite the contrary, her voice seemed to have grown more confident as she continued. “I would probably be not as hasty in either accepting or rejecting the offer. I would take a minute to think about it and compare the life I used to have with the one that I have now. And then, I would make my decision. I guess it might sound really surprising, but it seems that I have gained more since my accident than I would ever be able to, had my life not changed. So, no, I wouldn’t want to take it all back. Why?” Julia stopped for a moment, letting people to digest the last piece of information before she continued. She knew that for some people, it would be hard, or just impossible to understand. But it did not matter, not now. She had to say what she thought and let the others deal with it the way they needed to.

“Mainly, because now, after I’ve gone through so much grief, depression and suffering, I realized what I have really gained. I have such a wonderful life and I have learned how to live it to the fullest and appreciate it. I learned that life can be something wonderful no matter what you do and where you’re at. There’s always good to be found in bad things… If I chose to erase it all and start again where it all changed, I would have missed on all of this. I would have missed all those lessons I have learned; I would have never become a person I am. And I would have never come to learn that God is here with me and I can actually have a real relationship with Him. And through Him, with other people. My old life just wasn’t worth this much. That’s why I wouldn’t want it back; instead, I learned how to let it go…”