Survivor?

The past couple of weeks I've been thinking back to when I was 18-19. What triggered these thoughts was the 9-11 aniversary and the fact that it was 10 years ago. I started thinking about my goals back then... and realized my path went absolutely nowhere close to where I thought it would go.

10 years ago I didn't even know about Congenital Heart Defects. I knew that I had a scar on my chest. I also knew that in no way did it affect my current life (except taking antibiotics before the dentist).
I liked my mindset 10 years ago... I was a driven ISU wrestler trying to prove myself on the mat. I had a great relationship with God and when I trained... I trained for God and family.

Fast forward through a bunch of life experiences and I can no longer say that I am not affected by CHD. Now I know families that have daily battles and have lost loved ones to CHD.

I am not a "survivor", CHD warrior, or heart kid. I'm Nels Matson, an athlete, a man, a coach, an advocate. I'm driven by honoring God, my family, and seeing to it that fewer and fewer life year's are lost to CHD. My heart is great! It's probably better than anyone who is reading this blog. In fact, I always joke that when my heart was reconstructed it was put back better than the normal heart (actually it's true).

From here on out, I'm not labeling myself as a "survivor". I feel completely blessed to have been given the ability to push my body through rigourous activities. I feel blessed to have a scar on my chest so I don't forget about the real survivors and warriors.