In Kaʻū, a rural remote area on the Big Island of Hawai‘i, there was a boy with a dream, a dream to be a star, an athlete. He loved sports, especially basketball and football. Day by day, he rushed to the community park to play with his friends and some of his family members playing on small teams for baseball, basketball clubs, and playing the all American sport of football. However, when he was in fourth grade, one night, he felt tired and drowsy before waking up in an ambulance, being confused, lost and unsure of who he was as his life– slowly flashed. This brought in limitations upon him as well as a tragedy into his mind. Since that incident, he had to make adjustments in his life in what he could eat, what he could do, and what decisions he would have to make in the tragedy to which hopes were to be lost.

At the hospital, he and his family learned about the reason for his loss of consciousness. The news left him with a great sadness, a feeling to give up, a loss of hope, and loneliness.

Day by day, with the heart full of darkness and feeling of depression and the mentality to which he stood thought to get worse and worse. Unitil one day in the mountains, he saw the sun, he saw the clouds and the trees which could withstand the rain and the winds through the storms it faced. And he decided. It’s time —- time he was going to be who he wanted to be, time he needed to adapt, time to approach the darkest moments that life brings him, time to feel for the darkest of hours. Recognizing that while he couldn’t change his condition, he could control how he responded. Working with his doctor, informing his friends and family about his fears helped him to believe to find the hope he wanted to see.

Over time, he found ways to stay involved in what he loved and eventually returned to playing basketball even with the darkness of what he faced in the past. And over time, he could slowly feel the joy and a sense of freedom to which he once felt growing up. Through the experience, through the pain he felt, he came to learn and appreciate life's greatest and darkest moments. Those moments can bring lessons– lessons which could change your life… forever.

That boy I was telling you about was me. Now, when I look back at those times, it made me grateful. Changing everything from what I can and can not do leaves me to believe and understand that no matter what you face in life there is always going to be a moment where you feel the worst, but you need to remember to keep pushing forward— for it is what you were put in the world to do. Darkness is not eternal and it is important to find that source of light to guide us even through the darkest times.

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