Persistence to land a trick has taught me many invaluable lessons in life.
To accept this kind of pain just to land a trick on your bike changes you mentally and subconsciously in such profound ways.
I wasn’t aware of it in the beginning but in my last few years competing and progressing, I started to become conscious to what was going on.
Now I harness it all for my purpose to serve and support those around me and willing to hear what I have to say.
Josh P. 💚🧠✌️
We’ve always been told that wearing a helmet is important for our brains.
After @davemirra being diagnosed with CTE, I’ve become even more obsessed with 🧠 health and sharing with the BMX community and all of you.
Although I’m an advocate for helmets 100%, they don’t do much in terms of concussions and preventing CTE. They do protect the skull from fractures, tho, which is amazing!
🤓But, when we talk about the brain in regards to concussions, we have to understand the brains development, how the brain actually sits in the skull, and how a concussion occurs.
I’ve seen many of my friends out cold while wearing a helmet.
🧠@scottycranmer was wearing a helmet when his life altering TBI occurred.
🧠I’ve seen @vincebyron out cold several times with a full face helmet on, the last gnarly one resulted in blood seeping out of his nose and ears.
🧠 @davemirra crushed his face through his full face helmet one year at a contest.
🧠I myself have had a few concussions where I had a seizure and my heart stopped, all while wearing a helmet.
🙏🏼 That said, this isn’t a post advocating for not wearing a helmet. Very much the opposite and helmets serve an amazing tool for protecting our skull and mitigating issues if a head injury were to occur.
🙏🏼 This post is to understand the implications of hitting our heads. It takes time or it can be immediately.
🙌🏼 Part 2 from my trip to @doc_amen with @ryanplowery to get SPECT scans of our brains comes out Friday at 330pm EST!
Dr. Ali will be explaining this topic much more along with our scan results with exogenous @justpruvit ketones and without, what the scans mean, why we are the way we are, and how we can change our brains with and without exogenous ketones.
🤔Comment any questions or concerns and I’ll do a LIVE to answer those questions.🤗
Josh P. 💚🧠✌️
According to the actual definition of “pain”,
it’s suffering or discomfort caused by illness or injury.
That being said, the majority of us inflict that said “pain” on our selves by lifestyle choices and or lack of choices, aka mental illness (fear, anxiety, stress, and depression). I don’t believe anyone must choose what “pain” they will HAVE to endure and I don’t believe anyone must suffer against their own will, that is living in a past emotional state and experience, or literally harming yourself on your own terms, which creates illness and or disease.
I am not willing to suffer for shit. I am willing to make choices that will lead me to my goals. The cool thing is about most of anyone’s dreams and goals is that they come without illness or injury. MOST, is the key word. For example, my dream that I live today is to be a BMX athlete. An injury does happen because mistakes do happen in life but you move on, assess what went wrong, and learn from it. “Pain” in that sense is temporary unless you let it mentally hold you back later on in life.
What drives me is that life could always be worse, I am a living human in America, I want to support others in this world with my experiences that have given me tremendous perspective, and I, just as well all do, have potential to reach any and every one of my goals.
Nothing is worth my pain.
Pain is just information to the brain when things are not in balance.
I use pain as I use “failure” a lesson to learn what is out of balance and how to progress with my life.
-Josh P.
About a year ago (November 10th, 2016) I had my knee operated on for an injury report consisting of 10 issues, 2 of which were ACL/Meniscus tears. I’m grateful for the experience because it taught me a lot about myself and fitness, fueled my drive to beat the odds and return better than before, and allowed me to acquire a new perspective on my life and the path I want to take.
-Josh P.
I was listening to Pandora recently when a song by G-Eazy came on and I heard these lyrics:
“It’s only a dream until it happens to you”.
I instantly felt a great overwhelming sense of gratitude for my life and all that’s happened to me, good and bad. I live my dream every day and still have further dreams. I’ve become friends with my idols, made best friends from around the world, and have seen parts of the world most won’t. My dream became a reality but not without obstacles and life changing events.
As beat up as I am right now from two recent crashes (bone bruise on my shin/ankle and old torn lat muscle that I slammed along with my back into a quarter pipe last week), I’m still thrilled to be getting on a plane on my way to Denver Fise to compete.
I may not be 100% but I’m just at about 9 months out of ACL/Meniscus reconstructive surgery and am thankful to be competing again. It was the worst recovery I’ve had to date, even more so than brain tumor surgery recovery. It took a toll on me mentally and physically. But like any challenge we face in life, we must set fear aside and give it our all in order to reach our goals.
The falls I’ve taken on and off the bike have taught me a great deal about myself and life. I continue to ride my heart out for those who can’t, to inspire those who dream, to prove anyone’s dream is possible, and to continue enjoying my life as I live my dream.
-Josh P.
