There is not a moment during the day or night when I don’t pay a price. Whether I sit, stand, walk or recline my body suffers. It might be pain in my back, seizing in my waist, spasticity, and extensor cramps at night, or having a bladder or bowel accident. Even though I have had a strong recovery these residual deficits are challenging and part of what makes this injury so cruel and relentless. My system is never “off”, even when I am sleeping – if you can call it that. Sleep is in increments and is continually interrupted by pain, cramps, or a squeaky bladder. Chronic pain always hovers between a 3 and 5 out of 10, meaning that it is distressing. It is constantly on my mind and always trying to figure out how to manage it. How do I deal with this? I think back to the words of my poem by the same title, which reads, “So what does get me through it? What is there to take away from the challenges I face? That’s part of the price I pay. Define my terms and take a stand. It’s the place I start and say. Choosing to win and getting better overcomes the price I pay.” You too can live life on your terms, not what others say or think you can do, or residual deficits you may have. It starts with choice. Once you choose you have a way forward.