I truly am freer now than when I had my legs.
I would not change a thing.
But to me freedom is also disengagement from anguish, from worry about the future or reliving the past.
When you have lost both legs and have only one functional arm, you get present real fast.
The only thing I could do was be in the present moment.
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Eight months later, I wason the sidelinesof the Super Bowl with my pre-teen son.
He thought it might motivate them help them come together as a team.
They won the Super Bowl that year.
To my lasting surprise, I later starred in a majorHollywood movie, Battleship.
I received a call from director Peter Berg after hed seen a photograph of me inNational Geographic.
There are two things I keep close to remind me to stay present.
One is a patch designed by Clint Walkingstick, an artist from Oklahoma working with theHas Heartorganization.
Clints patch reads, Be your best, be present and be at peace.
There have been sorrows.
I have lost my parents, friends, fellow soldiers.
My mom died too young in her early 60s.
She liked to say I traveled with angels.
For many years I wore a cross she gave me on a chain around my neck.
I didnt tell her.
But not long after that she sent me a care package.
In it was a coin on one side was an angel and on the other my name.
There was also a metal clip I guess it was a hair clip with an angel on it.
I had it soldered into my Humvee.
