Lynn and I met, virtually, sometime in late 2019. We soon realized we share similar worldviews. She shared her book with me, Altered on Impact – How a Traumatic Brain Injury Taught Me to Lead a Purposeful Life so that I could get to understand her better. She never expected me to write anything about her book. I wanted to because her journey she shared in her book is inspiring. It takes tremendous courage to confront grave realities, successfully make a turnaround, and come out stronger and more inspired than ever before. As I was reading her book, I experienced a range of emotions myself – distress, exhaustion, depression, determination, perseverance, resilience, hope, and joy.
The book is on her meditative journey from trauma to inside-out transformation. I felt I was right there with her as a reader throughout this entire episode of her life. I could feel her pain – physical, emotional, mental. I had lived in the U.S. alone for many years, and worked in the financial sector. So, I could relate to many of these situations she narrated in her book. Life in the U.S. can get very stressful and lonely when we are left almost on our own to manage ourselves through a traumatic brain injury. I could picture her going through her ordeals – surgeries, suicidal tendencies, work pressure, financial stress, endless medications, and doctor visits. I could also relate to the help and support she got from friends and family. Life is such that we meet some of the most amazing people during our critical times. I tried to put myself in her shoes, and at times, it felt heavy. What was amazing to me was how self-aware she was during the entire time, especially the way she observed and narrated every detail.
The book is divided into two parts. In the first part, she writes about her journey of her injury. In the second part, she talks about the birth of her new self. Not even for a single moment did she victimize herself. She accepted and faced the realities. She did not let anger control her. She handled the entire situation in a calm and composed way. Deliberate positive affirmations, visualization exercises are some of the techniques she used to navigate through the trauma.
In chapter eight, she writes “I may not have known consciously or specifically what that meant, but intuitively, I knew that I wanted to be self-aware, self-realized (discovering and knowing my true self) and self-actualized (bringing my own uniqueness into the world).” This becomes her foundation towards her future self.
Lynn touches upon various aspects of society like how as a little girl she realized people were more interested to see her win than to stop and help another girl who fell behind in a running competition. Isn’t this a sad but true reality of a very competitive world, we are living in today?
In the second part of the book, Lynn takes us through her rebuilding phase. She is working towards her core self – her very own Lynn, she was destined to be. She talks about how the mechanistic Newtonian world made us mechanical people with little to no awareness of who we truly are or can be. She talks about the Quantum worldview and its endless possibilities and the power of consciousness.
We learn from her that non-linear thinking, power of appreciation, meditation, nonviolent communication (NVC), healthy organic diet, positive relationships, continuous learning are some of the ways to commit to a new way of life. This new way of living feels more blissful, abundant, and joyful.
Towards the end of the book, she makes several changes in her life. She realized her true calling is helping people to live with wholesomeness. She moved to a new apartment, she enrolled herself to get certified as a health coach and soon started coaching others to find that light within.
Lynn’s courage to confront her crucibles and to make the necessary changes in her life is a story that needs to be shared so that we are inspired to use our own crucibles as opportunities to pave our way to becoming our true selves.