Paul McMahon writes exclusively for ABLE2UK about his remarkable road to recovery following a life-changing accident...

19 months ago I fell three and a half floors off a building and into concrete. Thankfully I fell into an awning after one floor down and through a tree as opposed to the upright metal pillars of the fence below. I could have died. A simple truth built in the nature of life.

I lost temporary use of my leg, arm, a brain injury (but with an interesting tale of recovery), and nerve number seven on my face. This is the nerve that makes smiles happen but it also directs your angry face.

With little emotion I did lots of thumbs up to express myself. In recovery over these months I use meditation in a non-traditional sense. I sit and contemplate in solitary moments. I am often alone, but I am happy.

I listen to me for one of the first times in my life, where I guide a solo journey and I know what I want with great determination. This was part of my survival story, maintaining a focus on getting better and being all the exaggerated versions I had created of myself.

Maybe the near death experience did it. I do not know why there is comfort in alone time, but I trust myself more because of it.

I sit alone and ponder in tranquillity. I listen to nothing but me, sometimes I hear the cool breeze or the tiny bugs crawling across the ground. Myself is truly the guide I need and possibly the one I always needed. Sometimes soft and calm music in the background works for me in my daily search for work. However, I know it is I who directs my thought. I am alive and so the challenges living on with my injuries are minuscule when compared to my possible reality.

I do not sit and deeply think about what happened. I do not remember the day or accident itself. I am as foreign to it as you are (minus the injuries). I do not ask who, where, what, why and how it happened. I do not care. I take time dedicated to me and I try to forget this happened.

Sitting in solace is nice, it’s a time of evaluation.

Sometimes I think about deep thoughts but sometimes zero, nothing. Just silence alone and happy or non-emotional in the essence of being. Being is a good thing a being can be.

I think this is where my advice lies deep in what I am saying.

This message is not to “forget struggle”, it simply speaks of my special case and how I have approached it. I am pleased with the result and I am not searching deeply for something more profound.

You can do recovery alone and without someone else if you feel it is possible. That is what recovery can be, being comfortable with silence or calm music. It is comfort in being alone and solitary. To find happiness after a crazy accident you must find it within yourself and forget the slight changes to your life. It can currently be bad, stupendous and horrible. Just know where you want to be and breathe deeply in silence with a vision of the future within your control.

Paul McMahon is an up and coming author as a result of this accident. He has a Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/paulmcmahonauthor that you can follow if you like the story or like his travel blog. His story will detail the first two years following his accident and it is a story built on a host of events from work, love, travel, bad vibes, good vibes and life vibes.