By Ian Smith

Today, I needed to write about something that is very important to me – and should be very important to all of you. I’m going to try to keep this as structured as possible, but I will be ranting. So hang with me here.

Everyone walks a different path through life. That being said, everyone is going to have different experiences through life. Some easier than other, some more difficult than most. However, no matter who you are, you will face adversity at some point in your life. The thing that separates the best from the rest, is how you react to this adversity.

Like I said, how will you react to the ‘daily struggle’? Will you let it overwhelm you and get the best of you? Will you let adversity define who you are? Or will you FIGHT to be the best – no matter what? Will you lay down and die? Feel bad for yourself? Or stand up tall, fists clenched, ready to tackle anything stopping you from achieving excellence? Will you woe in self-pity asking ‘why me’? Or will you stare it right in the face and scream “BRING IT ON!”?

There are two options. Only two. Fight….or Die. There is no middle path here. There are no negotiations. There is no easy way out. Life is not a lazy river made for you to float around until the end of days. Life is a war.

But that’s the beauty of it. Accept it.

Take every situation you face and make the best of it. Focus your creative energies on solutions, growth, and conquering these mountainous adversities.

Here are some examples from my own life, where I have taken lemons and created delicious lemonade from them.

1) 3 Year Suspended License – Due to recent events, my license has been stripped from me for three years. Now, many people would find that as an excuse to become lethargic, lazy, and to watch tons of T.V. It seems like it would be a good one “I can’t get to work it’s too far, I don’t have a car/ride”. Instead, what do I do? I bought a bike, and I ride my ass everywhere. I rely on nobody for a ride, or to help me. I get up early every morning and ride – rain or shine – to work, school, and anywhere else I need to go to remain a productive member of society.

Great things have come of this. 5 months into doing this, I have dropped 20lbs of fat from my body. Magically, I have a 6-pack. My legs have gone from two flabby meat sticks to two rock hard limbs. My endurance has sky-rocketed. I have also learned many things: I can ride a bike like a champion and do a variety of neat tricks, I ride at night a lot and have spent much of my time looking at the stars as I ride in the deserted streets of my town, it also gives me plenty of time to sit and think about whatever is on my mind at the moment. While everyone is busy whining and moaning about gas prices (not so much now), I ride on happily by as the cash in my pocket continues to stack up! This list goes on and on and on.

2) Tragic automobile accident – For most of you, this may be a shocker. Last year, I was involved in a tragic automobile accident that took the life of an innocent young man. My life was spared, for reasons that still elude me to this day. And because of this, I have been charged with Vehicular Manslaughter of the 2nd degree. A serious charge that carries with it a 5-10 year prison sentence. Admittedly, this is by far the most intimidating form of adversity I have ever faced. There are so many levels on which this effects me as a person.

The guilt, remorse, and grief of knowing that someone died as a result of a dire mistake I made will haunt me for the rest of my days. The fear and unknown of going to prison haunts me every single waking hour. The pain I have caused in the hearts of his family, friends, and loved ones is indescribable, it simply cannot be put into words how bad I feel for all of this. I meant none of this, I love humanity, I would never intentionally set out to hurt anyone – let alone cause their untimely death. However, I have done so – mistake or not.

For months afterwards, I felt like nothing mattered anymore. I sat in a puddle of self-pity asking myself over and over again “Why me? Why me? Why did this happen to me?” Until one day I realized how lucky I was, how lucky I was to still be here, despite whatever else I had to face in the coming years. I was still alive. I was here. And nothing could be better than that. Upon further thought on the subject, I realized that great good could come from this most terrible of tragedies, and that I owed it to not only myself – but more importantly – the young man who perished that day. I owed it to him, and his family to create a better world from this. And that is what I will do forever more.

I started with myself first. I needed some work. So I got to work and revamped myself in every way possible. Once I was able to workout again, I got into a regiment that has sculpted my body into a highly tuned biological machine. Then I worked on my inside. The guilt. The fear. The pain. The negativity. I became stronger through all of this. I looked deep inside for the answers, and low and behold they were all there. Every single one of them was there. And those questions I couldn’t find complete answers for, I looked elsewhere to friends, family, and fellow humans for help. And they helped, with great pleasure. People have flocked from all over to help me through this tragedy. Teachers, friends, family doctors, family friends, loved ones, new friends, and even complete strangers.

Despite the fact that I am going to prison, I have continued to remain a productive member of society. I attend college as a full-time student, I have an internship, two jobs as a waiter and a yoga instructor, volunteer at a hospital, I write for the school newspaper, I run this website to help myself and others grow, and still manage to find time to hang out with the people I love.

Once I had worked on myself, it was time to give back to the world. I needed to tell my story, the tragic story of how this accident happened. While I am ashamed of my actions, I know with every fiber of my being that it was without intention and I know that great things can be learned from them. So I tell everyone I meet about who I am. I have no secrets, only stories. I publicly speak to students and other young people so they do not have to make the same mistake I did. And you know what? It feels AWESOME. The feeling I get telling my story (even though it is a sad one) is absolutely AMAZING. This has made me a better, stronger person, and I hope that by telling other people it will do the same for them.

Those are only two forms of adversity I have faced in my life. And despite the worst of it, great things have come from them. Sure, it sucks that I have to deal with it. But one thing I have learned from this is that someone else will always have bigger problems than you will. So learn to love your problems for what they are – embrace them – and conquer them!

Much love everyone.
Ian Andrew Smith.

R.I.P.

Words: Ian Smith

Note: Ian Smith is already facing time prison, but he is still an active person by writing letters to us and ocassional articles for this website. We all owe a great deal to him.