When I woke up in the Intensive Care Unit hooked up to a life support machine, missing my legs and severely broken body, I knew my life would never be the same. When I returned home and faced the devastation of what this crash brought me to, it felt as though every part of my being wailed begging someone to tell me that what I was experiencing was not true. When people learned about the tragedy, I kept hearing their thoughts – the car accident broke my destiny.
But I could not accept it. And I refused to agree with it! I told them that my destiny would be the way I wanted it, and not how this crash planned it. I would break limitations, break through those obstacles and create a new life. I trusted that with God nothing is impossible, no matter how hopeless it seemed.
Today I praise my God for the inner strength and His blessing – my life has completely transformed! I could not even dream of how the Lord blessed my new life. Rejoicing at this, I want to reach your heart and ignite hope.
Please hear me, it's not the hurt or betrayals that broke into your life or the devastation that you faced what ultimately will create your destiny. But, it's God's will for your life and your choices what you do with all that happened will have the last say about your destiny.
You are the conductor of a symphony called Life. God gave us the notes and the instruction on how to create a beautiful melody. He also gave us the freedom of a choice what we are going to do with those notes and instructions. Now, it's our personal choices that will create a melody of our lives' symphony.
• What we do with the time given to us. Will we use the time to achieve something or will we waste it?
All these choices… By making your choices you conduct your symphony called Your Life. By sharing my experiences in my book and every time I speak, I want to inspire you to be careful and thoughtful when you make your choices. I don't have all the answers to many questions about destiny. But what I do know is that our own daily choices and decisions create subsequent events and ultimately direct our destiny.
Sometimes one choice – one single decision – can literally direct our life journey in one or another direction. Also, consistent choices we make compounded over time deliver their results as well. They may seem insignificant because at the time they make no radical difference in your life. They may not even appear like choices. But they are. And, those little choices repeated on a continuous basis over time soon will deliver their results. Every time we decide to do or not to do something is a choice.
We stand at the crossroads many times in life. They might not even feel like crossroads; yet, they are, because by making a decision we go to the left or to the right. Therefore, before you make those choices or make a decision, ask yourself where your choice will bring you ultimately.
There are many things I don't understand about God. And I do not claim to understand everything in the Bible. But I know the Lord and He knows me. I've learned that our destiny will greatly depend on whether we choose life in obedience before the Lord God or life according to our own lusts, desires, and ways. What I do know is that living in a righteous way before the Lord God and trusting Him wholeheartedly at all times is going to bring a much more secure, fulfilling and purposeful life.
We all have choices, and we are going to have what we choose. So, I invite you to take a deep breath with me. Choose life! Let's continue on creating the lives that the Lord has called us to live.
Life is not a rehearsal. You get to do it only once.
Always remember, it's not what people do to you or what happens to you that ultimately will create your destiny. It's God's will for your life and your personal choices what you are going to do with all that happens what will create your life's symphony.
Who will end up designing your 2019? Random outside events? …Or YOU?
If you won't be in charge of how your days go and which direction your year will take, then random events and circumstances will be in charge of your year. You will end up just reacting to whatever happens in your life.
You know, for many years I thought that my life depended on what my circumstances allowed me to do and to experience. I did not really have any aspirations, and I didn't even think about any goals. I did not even have the concept of having a vision of what I wanted to achieve and deliberately creating what I wanted in my life. My understanding was that my life just depends on whatever happens on a day-to-day basis. With that mindset, I was going nowhere, only daily reacting to random events and the outside world's impact on my life.
I lived this way until I got into the car accident and my life was brutally changed. Only then I learned that there is another way to live – you can design your life. You can set your mind on what you want to accomplish in your life and deliberately begin fulfilling it. I didn't know then that this is what I was going to do. I just despised what the crash has created and I deliberately began changing my circumstances. I did what I had never done – I decided what I wanted in order to feel happy, set goals that would lead me to my vision and began living with intention. With time, by achieving one goal after another, I totally changed my life.
Now I know – Life is what you make it. And it begins with your awareness and decision to live with intention.
Don't allow random outside events to design your year! YOU take the lead.
How? First, ask yourself what you really want.
What would make your year meaningful and purposeful?
What needs to happen for you to feel confident, truly happy and content?
What needs to change so you feel better about yourself and your life?
Is there anything you would like to do, to learn or challenge yourself and achieve?
What would make your life exciting and fulfilling?
What do you think the Lord wants you to fulfill?
Once you know exactly what you want, make a strategy how you're going to make it happen. What are the possible ways to achieve it? What goals would bring you to your vision? You might say it's impossible. But please hear me. I've been there. The life that I get to live today is not a mere coincidence nor am I just a lucky one. I deliberately aimed for it. And when I started planning how to change my circumstances and restore my life after the car accident, it was hard to even consider that my vision was possible. I was advised many times to think realistically – what I wanted was simply not possible. All circumstances were against me. Everywhere I looked there were tremendous difficulties and unchangeable obstacles in front of me.
But I knew that with God's help I could change those circumstances. And indeed, when my efforts seemed powerless, the Lord stepped in and in the most incredible way, He arranged favorable situations, connected me with people who were willing to help me, and He created new opportunities where there seemed none. It was unbelievable! What you can't do the Lord will. Just trust Him. Those who trust in the Lord will never be ashamed. But you need to be bold and step out of your comfort zone and design your year by living on purpose.
Live with intention every day. Always keep in mind where you are headed and be consistent in your efforts to achieve your aspiration. Big changes don't happen overnight nor does success suddenly show up as 'Luck'. It takes time. It takes relentless work. It's your daily choices to make the effort and consistent actions compounded will deliver the successful result.
Please understand – you are the author of your life story. Your year and your life are in your hands, not in the hands of your circumstances or random outside events. With God's help, you can have an incredible life.
Live with intention. Make your 2019 an extraordinary year!
Daily duties, jobs, interests, friends, world news, and social media bombard us daily and we don't even realize that while we consider ourselves living in faith, often we leave our time for the Lord to be the last. We postpone our prayer or reading His word to a later time, to whenever we have a free moment. Unfortunately, the Lord ends up to be the last one who gets our attention. There are so many exciting things around us! And, the Lord is pushed aside, waiting for us to finally have time for Him to hear what He has to say to us.
When I think of it, you know what comes to my mind? My biggest decisions which highly impacted my life and even directed my destiny and career were born in the prayer, reading the Bible, or inspirational books. And, they were the best decisions I have made.
Once, after my prayer to God to direct my heart to that choice which will be better for me, the Lord changed my decision radically. That decision literally changed the course of my life and, it was a much better decision than I first thought of making. Later I saw that I would have made a huge mistake if I proceeded with the initial decision, even if at that time logically thinking it seemed that it was the best choice.
Since then, I began spending more time in the prayer asking the Lord to direct me and guide me. When I needed to make a decision, I would pray for the Lord to give me peace for the choice I needed to make. When I had a vision of something I wanted to implement in my life, I would ask God to direct me and help me to fulfill it if that was His will. When I had specific plans for something, I would ask the Lord to give me wisdom and knowledge on how to fulfill those plans successfully, to send me people who would help me and bless my work so I would successfully achieve my goals. Basically, every time I wanted to fulfill my vision and implement my plans or achieve any goals, I would bring it in my prayer before the Lord asking for His guidance and His blessing.
And, I am so grateful I did! The Lord always answered and directed me which way I needed to go. Truth to be told, I avoided more mistakes only because I prayed about it. In addition, my plans would be fulfilled successfully, often it seemed as though the invisible force was assisting me to achieve successful results.
The Lord says it in His word for us to come to Him with our plans, vision of something we want to implement, or choices that we face so He could direct our thoughts, and decisions and bless us in fulfilling them. My life became so much easier and better once I started practicing these verses from the Scriptures!
The only thing that stands in a way at times is this daily rush to get things done. I was just recently so caught up in everything that was happening in my life, it totally devoured me, and I spent much less time in the prayer talking with the Lord. Even though I saw what was going on, it seemed like I couldn't get out of that daily whirlwind of nonstop 'busyness'. One day, the Lord used an acquaintance that called me and during our conversation said to me "The Lord wants you to be close to Him so you get His direction and guidance. You need to be close to Him." The friend had no idea why he was saying this to me, but I knew. I heard what I needed to hear.
Today I am inspired to share this with you. It's a noisy world we live in. Where is the Lord in your daily life?
I wanted to share with you something that might be life changing for you, as it was for me 16 years ago.
As I am getting closer to the day when I step into a new phase in my life, fully devoting myself to my calling and passion to help others overcome and achieve the lives they're longing to live, this week I wanted to share with you something that might be life changing for you, as it was for me 16 years ago. And then, I have a gift for you – my model "7 Steps Forward", a roadmap for changing your current circumstances and creating the life you desire.
Time after time I hear people saying "Well, that's just how my life is." Their sad eyes reflect their belief that circumstances are stronger than they are and that there is nothing much they could do about it. And, they settle for the life they have even though they are miserable. I still remember the time when I felt trapped by circumstances. I was so deeply depressed that I wished I didn't even exist. But there was a day when I grasped one thing and that was a turning point in my life. Since then, I began intentionally to take action to change my circumstances, and my story evolved in an amazing way. My life transformed.
If you are not happy how your life goes and you also feel trapped in your current circumstances, this message is for you today.
At the time, losing nearly half of my body meant losing my life. At the time Vilnius city was not accessible for people in wheelchairs, and that meant that I no longer could leave my home, go to the city or anywhere. I became literally imprisoned by the walls of my own home. My life turned into a dull and painful existence. The scariest thing was knowing that we couldn't do anything to change the situation. Losing legs was not like getting a cut on your finger. It was a horrifying agonizing experience of the sudden change. Without me even realizing it, I stepped on a quicksand of deep depression. But, praise the Lord, there was a day when the despair was replaced by hope and a new vision.
I will never forget that beautiful sunny day when I realized that if I did not like how my life was – I could change it. Nothing – no accident, pain, challenges due to my changed physical condition, nor any other problems were going to rule how I felt and how I would continue my life journey.
Those desperate circumstances were created by the event – the car accident. So, if the circumstances and my life's conditions could be changed by certain events, then by taking the initiative and action I could create a different kind of events and change my circumstances again! I didn't have to give in and settle for what was created by the crash!
That moment something deep inside of me has shifted. Instead of continuing to live in despair and depression that my life was restricted by circumstances that the crash has created, I realized that there was no limit to what I want to create in my life – by taking an intentional action I could deliberately create circumstances that I desired. And, I believed with God's help I was going to get out of this horrible place in my life.
I felt strong and determined to change my living conditions. I decided not to waste my time and not to allow the unknown to make me doubt, but take the initiative and start making changes to get myself out of the "dead-end".
I asked myself what needs to happen, how my life needs to be for me to feel happy again. Then, I asked myself solution-oriented questions, determined my long term and short term goals, and strategized what exactly I needed to do to start the process.
First, I set the goals that helped me gain my independence back on a daily routine, along with the ability to walk wearing artificial legs. Local prosthetic specialists tried to ensure me that in my physical condition of bilateral above the knee amputee and having one arm paralyzed it was impossible to walk wearing prosthetic legs. At that time I knew that the only way to change circumstances that made me depressed was to walk again so I would be able to get out my home and go to work again. I was ready to break through any obstacles to make it happen. So I told specialists that I would walk and would even dance, and they would see it.
In spite of much advice – to come to terms with a "disabled lifestyle" – I researched online about prosthetic legs worldwide, emailing prosthetic companies. My relentless perseverance to walk again brought me all the way to California, USA. Thanks to an American prosthetic specialist, who believed that my dream was possible and decided to help me, I fulfilled my vow. I walked and even danced, just as I said I would.
Then, a year later I moved across the globe from my family in Lithuania, EU and established my life in the United States even though at the time of my decision I had no place to live, no work, not a lot of money, and even no right to live and work in America. I always held my vision in my mind no matter what was going on in my life, and consistently worked toward my goals. A beautiful dream, which seemed impossible at the time, has become my reality.
Last night, as I was having my time of gratitude to the Lord, in my mind I stepped back and looked at my life from a bigger perspective. Just remembering where I began my journey and where my life is now, I was in awe. How incredibly my life has transformed! How great my God is!
I still remember very well those days when a full dynamic life having my physical limitations seemed impossible. I was told many times that I was aiming for goals that were simply unrealistic. It did seem like outrageous ambitions and yet, I believed there would come a day when I'd implement my dreams. And, it's been over a decade now that I live my dream.
The outrageous ambition is my life today – I live a dynamic life residing in beautiful California, across the globe from my home country, am self-sufficient, work, build relationships with people, travel even more than I ever did prior the crash. Furthermore, I just fulfilled another impossible goal – published my book "Unstoppable. It's a Choice". And now, my eyes are set on another vision – creating my business Becoming Unstoppable, LLC to fulfill my promise to the Lord and help other people break through their hardships and create the lives they're longing to live. It's mind-boggling!
Please hear me – you can change your current circumstances if you are not happy with them. Current circumstances were created by your own choices made earlier. The same way, by making different choices and taking action, you can create different circumstances. Maybe you are dealing with some events you could not control. But remember, your life is in your hands, not in the hands of your circumstances. Your choice of what you are going to do about them from now on will determine your future events, and maybe even your destiny. Do not allow them to be in charge. It's up to you to take charge of your circumstances and your life.
You are the author of your life story. You can pick up a pen and change your next Chapter. You can change it at any time. Even today. Even this moment can be fateful for you if you make the decision to open a new page and start writing in it what you want.
This is your life, your story, and nobody is going to create it for you, except you.
I want to share with you the model that I personally used to transform my life so you can begin your journey anytime, even today. On the right side of my personal web page find and get "7 Steps Forward" How to Create the Life you Desire, which will be your roadmap.
If at any point you would like me to personally coach you, please don't hesitate to contact me.
And, if you would like more practical tools that could guide you in your journey, I encourage you to read my book"Unstoppable. It's a Choice" There I included all practical tools how to be strong, how to overcome, break through and achieve.
I hope this will give you a sparkle of hope and challenge your beliefs and expand your vision of what's possible in your life. Remember, you can begin making changes even today. I will continue sharing messages to inspire and equip you with practical tools.
Meanwhile, be strong. Believe that with God all things are possible. Only you need to take initiative.
I encourage you to go to the website and subscribe there, so you receive my blog messages and updates. I probably will be discontinuing blog here, so visit my new website and subscribe, so we can continue the journey together.
There you will find Blog as well as videos from my interviews and speaking events, information about the book, photos, and information about public speaking and coaching services I offer.
In my Blog, I will share messages of inspiration, faith and some self-management tools that will strengthen your faith, empower you to handle your own challenges and will equip you to break through the obstacles, while you are in the process of creating the life you are longing to live.
In the Menu, you will see the Blog tab, which separates into two separate categories – Faith & Stories of Answered Prayers and Self Management /Life Coaching.
The great news is that my book 'Unstoppable. It's a Choice' is now PUBLISHED! I began receiving feedback and reviews from readers. Friends, I don't know if I am still dreaming or is it really true that my manuscript is an actual book. I must tell you that my road to this moment was long and even painful at times. My seven-year writing journey began when my brother's cry for help reached me.
In April of 2007, I received a text message from my brother, which shook me to the core of my being. It was very disturbing. I knew something really bad had happened. As I was wondering what I could do to help him, a clear thought came to me "Write him a letter." It was an inspiration/direction that I needed to write him about my own recovery after the car accident; write about the source of my inner strength and tenacity, how I was able to not give up no matter how hopeless it seemed, and what was behind my successful achievement of goals that others claimed to be impossible. Even though my brother was by my side for many years and watched me making decisions and working toward my goals, he never knew the reasons behind my relentless perseverance, which ultimately brought me to the life that seemed impossible to ever attain. And now, I was inspired to tell it all to help my brother not to give up and recover from his own adversity.
I never considered I could write well. But my love for my brother and urging feeling that I needed to do that won my insecurity. So I got on my computer and wrote him a long open conversation from my heart. My brother responded very positively to my offer to write him letters and asked me to keep writing. So I did. After a while, brother opened up to me that he was in such dark hopeless place that he didn't see the way out. Even thoughts of suicide began coming to him with persistence. But now, he got out of hopelessness and had the hope and direction in life. "My little son still has his daddy alive because of your letters, Inga. Continue writing and publish a book to help other people," he added.
I never thought I could write a book. But, I decided to write and publish it, just as brother encouraged me. I believed if this saves the life of at least one more person, if it makes a difference to someone else, it will be all worth it. I did not have the editor nor did I have the money to publish it. But, I believed it all would come when it's time to publish it; I just needed to do the work – write it. So, I began working on it using every free time-frame to write. There were many difficulties and obstacles to complete this book and publish it. It was a long seven-year consistent and relentless work to bring this book into existence. And indeed, when the manuscript for the book was complete, everything necessary for the book to be published came – everything came at the same time. It's just incredible how the Lord provided!
It turned out that when I was ready to edit the manuscript and was wondering where I could find a good professional editor, at that time the company where I work at as a Public Relations person, hired a temporary contractor for certain project. And, to my surprise, Bob was a seasoned professional editor and has worked with the former President of the U.S. and other known public figures and companies. Shortly after his arrival, Bob agreed to edit my book once the funds arrive.
The Lord doesn't stop astounding me! And, He showed it again – all things are possible for Him. Circumstances, money, people's hearts… everything is in God's hands. What is required of us is obedience to His voice and faithfulness to the work that He entrusts us to do. And the rest… whatever seems impossible becomes very possible when the Lord provides.
I put all my heart into this work. I wrote it with love and much care, revealing my true story. Beginning with the story of my car crash, I share how difficult the recovery process was after losing my legs and the use of my left arm. I share what gave me hope and determination to restore my life. Going against circumstances and opinions of others, I aimed for goals that seemed beyond my grasp. Finally, I traveled independently from Europe to the U.S. to implement my dream. The narrative is intertwined with a love story that brought me even more emotional anguish than the car accident. At that point, I felt totally broken and no longer had I the strength or desire to fight for my life. But, I had to ask myself whether I was going to allow other people's choices to break me and my destiny. I made the choice to get up and continue on. With the Lord's help, I picked myself up, returned to the US and continued pursuing the life I desired to live.
While I was writing this book, I saw how my decisions not to give up and be unstoppable in my pursuit totally transformed those tragedies and hardships that I faced. It really shows that it's not what happens to us and not other people's choices determine our future, but our decision what we're going to do with it all that ultimately determines our destiny. The entire book shows the power of our decisions that are made by us, once we stand at the crossroads of a choice.
The book includes my real letters to my bother, which are written in a coaching style. So while sharing my story, I coach the reader, who is facing any type of difficulties and desires to improve his or her life.
Be it a life-altering adversity in your life, or this monster called depression, obstacles that make your goals hard to reach, bad decisions in the past or any hardships that you face, reading the book you will find a roadmap how to trust the Lord in the midst of troubles, how to overcome depression and thrive again, how to break through hardships, overcome obstacles and achieve any goals, ultimately creating the life you desire.
My hope and aim for this book are to inspire, encourage, ignite faith, and give practical knowledge that will equip the reader to overcome and succeed.
The book is available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, GoodReads.
Now that my book is published, I follow my calling and purpose to fulfill my promise to God which I made 17 years ago, and reach out my hand to those who are struggling and going through hardships, who desire to improve their lives but don't know how, who experienced adversity and need to recover from pain and continue on.
I and my friend and Associate Anzhelika Polyak (another Lithuanian, whom I met in San Francisco in one of the events where I was a guest speaker at the Christian Church) are establishing a company 'Becoming Unstoppable', which has a mission to make a difference in people's lives by bringing the message of hope, sharing a personal testimony of the living God's power to restore the broken and turn the impossible into possible. Along with the message about faith, Becoming Unstoppable shares practical guidance and self-management strategies/tools to empower people to keep on going and break through any circumstances to create the lives they're longing to have.
Since my car accident, I have done a number of public speaking engagements and interviews in Lithuania and in the United States for TV programs, radio and publications for inspirational purposes and I am looking forward to continuing sharing my message.
If you would be interested in having me as a guest speaker, please connect with me.
These are my updates. I hope, reading my message you were encouraged.
By for now, hope to see you on the Becoming Unstoppable!