MAX ZYABLICEV

spinal cord injury

I like this phrase: “How do you motivate yourself? Well, don’t — just stay screwed”.

It’s exactly where I was when everything happened. An unfortunate jump into a pond, cervical fracture, wheel-chair, shocking for a 22-year old man, for whom the life was just beginning. After the accident, it took long 8 years to start feeling like myself again and find my own path. I found answers to a question why this happened and understood that I’m not a victim of circumstances.

What do you do when the life turns out like this? Channel your energy onto the positive picture. Look for inspirational examples. Read, listen, watch- somebody already found themselves in a similar situation and was able to come through.

A person must be able to turn the switch themselves, nothing will happen until this happens. That’s why you can’t “cause help” intentionally. I kept receiving a mass of information — about Valentin Dikul and others, who were “able to”, but if the person is not ready for this information, it irritates, because you are the one “who couldn’t”. There becomes a moment when you either eat yourself up, or you get tired of feeling sad for yourself and you rise up to a completely new level of consciousness.

A personal experience of one person, what worked for me. Not some abstract person from the internet or tv stories, but a story of my new acquaintance, a girl in a wheal-chair, Anastasia. Despite of her circumstances, she continued to travel, lived to the fullest, drove a car, and even worked as a taxi-driver! A thought of “what am I waiting for?” pierced through me and allowed me to start a new life.

First of all, I found a way to earn extra money by developing content advertisement. Money is always a matter of desire. If you want money, you will always find the way to earn it, even if you are in a wheel-chair.

I started driving, started traveling, met new people, started finding joys in life.

Then I found a fashion-show “Mister universe”, specifically for men with limited abilities. It was a moment of true happiness, fabulous interactions, learning, unbelievable emotions. There was zero competition, just a family atmosphere. It didn’t matter who won, the prize became a pleasant bonus.

It’s definitely an interesting status for the timid, shy young man that I once was. It’s interesting that now, being in a wheel-chair, I feel stronger and more confident than before the accident.

Currently I’m involved with community activities, coordinate inclusive events of Russian students’ movement, administer charity organization, and recently joined a government committee of our region. Our group organizes “Lessons of friendship and kindness”. We visit schools and talk to children and teenagers about people with disabilities, so they can be more tolerant and understand that you can be friends with people with limited abilities.