Kyle Carpenter describes his long hospital recovery in 2010. Seeing patients with lighter injuries fail to move forward made him think hard about his own mindset.
…and inch me forward. And it's not about the limbs. I think just what I'm saying is it's about the mindset and looking at what you have compared to what you don't have. And I think that comparison, it can do wonders for you and take you amazing places, or that comparison can become the thief of joy.
Yeah.
And it can turn you into a perpetually pessimistic person. And also, you know, I saw in the hospital, and before I say this, I want to note that I think struggle, adversity, and most things in life should never be compared. You know, my buddy Andy Stump said, you know, I've done more than some and less than others. Yeah. And that really stuck with me. But with that said, and again, not comparing, but I saw that there were those in the hospital with me because 2010 was a very violent year in Afghanistan. Most of the hospital rooms, I think except for mine, because I was one of the ones in the worst shape. I needed a one-to-one. I needed kind of some other stuff going on in my room, a lot of machines. But every single room had two beds and two patients in it. And there was even a time where the least injured were out in the hallways. And so a lot of casualties were there and a lot of wounded warriors recovering. But I saw that there were some that had, you know…
Right.
And I saw that their mindset and not their injuries were holding them back.
Yeah.