Paul

Guelph, Ontario

Community Box: Self-Care Edition

Featured Creator, September 2019

“I’m just a regular person, and It’s nice to think that my voice is just as important as everyone else at the table.”

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Paul’s Story

“It’s something unpredictable, but in the end its right. I hope you had the time of your life.”

This song speaks to a lot of things that are going on in my head. Even when you’re in a barrel of crap, if you have people around you that love you, you’re going to have the time of your life. Without the people around me, I wouldn’t be where I am.

“The last thing I want to do at night is to make sure that everybody I care about is okay, and that we tell each other that we care about each other a lot.”

I’m grateful for the chance to be alive. I didn’t have very good odds four years ago and I shouldn’t be here, but I am. I’m grateful for the chance to live a less angry life, to look at being alive as an opportunity to do a lot of good, and to just love what’s going on. I don’t know if I’d feel the way I feel right now if I hadn’t come so close to not being here.

I get upset sometimes, but not as much anymore.

“I don’t sweat the little things like I used to. I don’t obsess about the wrongs that have never gotten right. ”

The reality is, we can spend all the time talking about the past. To me, the past is there for you to learn. If you dwell on it too much, I don’t think you learn. You embrace it, you deal with it, and then you carry on.

One obstacle I am overcoming is my health, both physical and mental. I have this nasty habit of overthinking things even as logic tells me to stop. I have two trauma surgeons in Hamilton who are taking care of me, so I shouldn’t and I’m not going to sweat that - I'm in good hands.

“Self-care is about getting rid of the toxicity in your life and leaving the good behind.”

Most of my life was pretty good - I can’t complain about how I grew up. I’m doing what I should be doing, which is community building and supporting people. The good Lord wanted me to do something positive and that’s why he didn’t take me.

I got approached by HOPE House to be part of the board. I love seeing how to see things work here.

“I’m just a regular person, and It’s nice to think that my voice is just as important as everyone else at the table.”

I think people need to define for themselves what family means to them and to be true to that. To me, family is who you want to do life with and who you want to make plans with. It’s who you want to love who you want to watch grow.

“It’s just enjoyable getting up each day knowing you’re going to spend time with the people you really really care about. ”

In five years, I want to be in some kind of a home having Christmas dinner with everyone in our family, and just having that kind of moment of a big unruly bunch together. It doesn’t have to be the most glamorous house, just full of us and full of what we do - that would definitely be where I want to be.