Get Better Not Bitter - Tory Archbold interviews Lisa Cox.
In this episode of the Powerful Stories Podcast, Tory Archbold interviews author and speaker, Lisa Cox. At age 24, Lisa was working in advertising and high ambitions to work in New York – but her dreams were shattered. Lisa openly shares her story – ‘My brain haemorrhaged at the airport one morning and spent the next three weeks in a coma on life support. I died twice'. From there Lisa spent a year in hospital – ‘My left leg, all of my right toes and 9 of my fingertips were amputated. I also had heart surgery, a total hip replacement – so I am in a wheelchair full time now, but the more challenging aspects of my disability are things like the scarring on my brain from the haemorrhage, I’m over 25% blind, have epilepsy, chronic fatigue as well as being diagnosed with anxiety and PTSD. Although she has been through many trials Lisa came into the Nova studio with a smile on her face. ‘Sharing my story is a way of paying it forward so people know that things do get better. It is a privilege that I can share my story and impact the lives of other people for the better.’ Lisa is grateful for the opportunity to get up on stage and share – ‘I used to have to point as a board of letters to communicate, so the fact I can even speak in front of others is something that I am incredibly grateful for’ says Lisa. When we go through big life events it is our core tribe that lift us up. ‘I did lose a lot of friends – but the ones who have stuck by me are the true friends and it confirmed who was there through the good, bad and the ugly.’ It’s been 16 years since her stroke and in that time she has made wonderful connections and shares friendship with others who know what it is like to live with a disability. She has also found love and the man of her dreams. ‘I love that he doesn’t dismiss my disability and pretend it isn’t there – because it is such a big part of me and it wasn’t a big deal to him’. He has embraced all of her. ‘Life is there to be lived and there is nothing like having it taken away from you to start appreciating it more’ says Lisa ‘but I want people to know that you don’t need to die twice to come to that realisation’. Mindset switch has helped Lisa become who she is today. She says ‘it is important to surround yourself with the right sort of people – and that extends to who we share our time with online.’ Next, you need to ‘know the difference between reasons and excuses and finally, ‘make friends with failure - if you sweep everything under the rug it will come out at some stage.’ The best bit of advice Lisa ever received was to “Get Better, Not Bitter.” It was a critical turning point for Lisa’s mindset and her wiliness to move forward and live this incredible life inspiring, empowering and encouraging others. So, sit back and enjoy this powerful story with the extraordinary Lisa Cox. Links: Sign up to the Powerful Steps #coffeechallenge to gain Tory’s proven formula for building a global network, with three coffee dates a week. It’s how she connected with the guests on this podcast. Each one is an authentic and trusted connection. Powerful Steps Follow @powerfulsteps on Instagram Powerful Steps on LinkedIn Lisa Cox Follow @lisacox.co on Instagram See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.