Personal Statement
My personal quote is ‘changing the world, one smile at a time’, and it couldn’t be more true! My name is Terry, like the chocolate orange, and I am a counsellor, life coach and public speaker. Now, I must point out that I have been guided into this profession. I did not spend years studying at university, I spent years with intensive life training… the diplomas came a lot later.
I began my life like many, without any real direction, and ended up on a dark path. I was a drug user, a drinker and a man with no real goals or ambitions. My life and my future were bleak, but I didn’t see that, notice or care. I call these years my ‘sausage years’.
These sausage years continued until I was 28, when my life took an extreme turn and was changed forever! I suffered a devastating accident, resulting in severe injuries, ranging from a broken jaw and back to head trauma, leading to brain surgery. My family was told I could be brain dead and I might never walk again. I needed full time care when released from hospital, as I was physically broken. I could no longer stand, walk, see or hear. Half of my face was paralysed and that in itself carried an array of problems.
As I was so physically broken, a decline in my mental health also followed. I was diagnosed with PTSD, depression and anxiety. Quite frankly, I was suicidal for a long time. It took me years of hard work and determination to not only beat my problems, but to destroy them, as if they had never existed!
All the lessons I have learnt on my journey have made me the man I am today and are lessons I can use to help others. Be it a physical problem someone is dealing with, or a mental or emotional issue, life has given me the experience I need to be able to help them, which I believe is a beautiful thing.
My main goal as a person and as a man, is to keep my morals and values high; to always do what is right and hold my integrity. I am a very traditional type of man with old school values. I understand that dark moments and chapters happen to everyone, but learning to navigate them is something I’ve become an expert at… so helping other people has become my thing.
My future involves nothing other than helping people, be it with counselling, life coaching or my presentation. I will continue to show people that they control their emotions, and how powerful that is. That it can, and will, affect their lives in the most positive way.
