Acceptance. I had suffered a massive ischemic stroke and resulting aphasia. I had to accept what happened, what it meant, how bad it was, and that it wasn’t going to completely go away. In time, I have lessened the effects of aphasia and worked hard to fix my speech through intensive rehab, but I do still have symptoms. It took even longer to accept that my previous life as a financial controller was no longer my future and that I needed to pursue different perspectives and avenues to happiness.