I am coming up on 20 years since the bicycle accident that nearly took my life. Always, I continue to think about what I learned from this experience and how it made me better and stronger. I love sayings, and there are so many about the part of me that was most seriously injured – my head. A few examples?

“Keep your head in the game. This is over your head. Don’t let them in your head. Don’t lose your head.”

That last saying is the one that guided me in the months after my accident and in the years since. No matter what happens to me, I try to ask myself what I can learn from what has happened and how I can use that knowledge to help others. I am alive today because I had on a helmet the day of my disastrous fall forward over my bicycle on A1A south of Jacksonville Beach. So, I included that in one of the ‘Coming Back’ stories I did for the station I was honored to work for at the time – WJXT-TV in Jacksonville, Florida. I encouraged others to wear a helmet when they ride.

As it turned out, that was the ultimate way to keep my head.