Throughout my short sixteen-years of life, I had come eye to eye with many grueling challenges. Many of these challenges are trials faced by the majority of teenagers, such as an upcoming test or an argument with a close friend. Yet other struggles I have endured could only be relatable to a small handful of the world’s population. Like most people, my initial reaction to conflict was half-indignant, half-ambiguity. “Why me?” was always the first question I asked myself. Out of all of the people living on this planet, why was I the lucky one who was forced to confront this situation, to deal with this inconvenience? As problems arose in my day to day life, this mindset would come frequently and eventually leave, similarly to the seasons shifting throughout the year. However, my life soon took an unexpected turn which made me as a person reevaluate my mindset, and my outlook on life.

It was a cloudy winter evening - not unusual for upstate New York. Every Tuesday night I would have soccer practice at the indoor training facility a few towns away. When I would arrive to practice, my teammates and I would talk about how our week has been, and wait for the coach to arrive. About five minutes later, the coach would appear and give us our instructions to run the three mile loop near the building. We would assemble ourselves into two straight rows, and begin our jog. This was the typical start to practice, yet something in my conscious told me an unforeseen event was going to occur, so I remained mindful. As we made our way towards the first incline, I began to notice myself feeling light headed. I believed it to be from a lack of sleep, so I ignored it. Still, the more I ran, the more disoriented I became. My fingertips and toes began to feel numb, and my heart felt as if it were beating right out of my chest. I tried to refocus my mind by looking off into the calm, swaying branches of the trees, but I could not get my thoughts off of the overwhelming discomfort I was feeling. I eventually finished the run and made it back to the soccer facility, but within ten minutes of trying to get ahold of myself I collapsed.

I had been diagnosed with Supraventricular Tachycardia, or PSVT for short. I was told that my heart at times could beat abnormally fast due to improper electrical activity within the upper chambers - which could lead to fainting and fatigue. When I asked my doctor what caused this, he could only give me one answer.

I was unlucky.

In that second, what seemed to be a tidal wave of negativity flooded my mind: “How am I going to deal with this inconvenience?” “What did I do to deserve this?”

“Why Me?”

I stopped thinking and took a long deep breath to fill my lungs with much needed oxygen. I reevaluated my thoughts and made myself a promise - to look for the good in every situation. A negative mindset and unluckiness brought me into this situation, so maybe a positive mindset and a little bit of luck could help me out. I would change my initial reaction to conflict from “Why me?” to “How can I use this situation?”. I asked myself that question in my moment of self-doubt, and continue to ask it to myself everyday.

I haven’t let this setback prevent me from living an active lifestyle, as I currently run cross country for my high school. Everytime the spikes on the bottom of my shoes dig into the rubber terrain of the track, my adrenaline kicks in and nothing can stop me from aiming for success. As the old saying goes: when life gives you lemons, make lemonade. While I would have rather not been diagnosed with PSVT, it has helped me grow and change my outlook on life, and for that I am eternally grateful. So the next time life gives you lemons, ask yourself what you can make out of it, and you’ll have lemonade.