I’m John Centofanti.
One day in January 2018, I went for my daily run.
Shortly after I would become a cardiac arrest survivor.
I’m a writer and creative professional, as well as a husband, father and grandfather.
When your life ends in an instant, there’s no guidebook to show you how to build a new one while you live with the effects of anoxic brain injury.
This is why I’m sharing my story of losing my previous life and my journey to build a new one I love. My hope is to help others who are learning to thrive, not just survive.
Thriving After Surviving: What Does a Thriving Life Actually Look Like?
After surviving cardiac arrest, my life was turned upside down, but I didn’t even realize it. I was in a medically induced coma for days afterward. When they brought me out of the coma, it was Saturday afternoon. I was told what happened. I didn’t understand at all the impact of it, but I thought I did.
I had no idea getting back to normal was not in the cards. Between medical appointments, therapies and crushing fatigue, returning to my old life was more of a fantasy. Yet, I’d wake up every day and tell myself, “Today is the day I’m going to crush it.” Except I couldn’t. I didn’t.
Being Grateful and Angry at the Same Time
Conflicting emotions aren’t rare or odd. They are part of life. What’s rare is to ever have a single emotion without another one nearby pushing its way into your mind.
I’ve learned that I can be grateful to be alive, and frustrated that I’ve fallen up the steps… again.
The Slow Crawl of Healing, Recovery and Growth
Whatever growth you’ve had, it’s never enough. The rest of life works that way, too. Healing from sickness, recovery, and growth in anything are so slow. It’s so slow, it can be discouraging, frustrating, even infuriating. It’s human nature: we want the progress to be fast, and fast enough to notice it.
I Believe It. I Need You to Believe It.
“Past performance is not indicative of future results” is good news for anyone facing a major life setback. Forget Your Past Performance Any advertisement you see for an investment firm includes the required disclaimer, “Past performance is not indicative of future…