This is the 8th chapter of

“Synchronicity: A Divinely Orchestrated Journey”

I will be releasing 1 chapter online a day for 40 days.

Click Here to read the full book from the first chapter 

The 20^th of December, 2015

There is nothing more frustrating when decorating a Christmas tree than to have one light bulb go out. 

We all know if one light goes out on a string of lights, they all go out. 

You then have the painstaking task to find the one bulb, fix it, for all the bulbs to go back on. 

One can spend hours searching for that one bulb.

I have spent more than six years in search of mine. 

A brain injury is like having that one bulb go out in your brain. 

Find the one connection, fix it, and everything goes back on. 

Neurotransmitters generate connections in the brain. 

They transmit signals across a chemical synapse from one neuron to another. 

Neurotransmitters come from Amino Acids. 

Amino Acids can be found on the shelf at Vitamin Shoppe. 

“Can I help you find something?” a Vitamin Shoppe employee asks as he spots me reading labels in the neurotransmitter section. 

I hesitate for a few seconds, almost to the point of awkwardness, as I ponder if I should share the reason I am reading the labels on every bottle in the neurotransmitter section.

I usually would make up a story in this situation; it is just easier, but today I decide to overshare with the Vitamin Shoppe employee as to why I am doing what I am doing. 

“Yes, I am trying to learn about neurotransmitters.” 

“Can I ask why?” he asks me. 

“You may. I have a daughter who is in a non-mobile and non-verbal state, and it is my belief that if I provide her with the right neurotransmitter, at the proper dosage, it will provide the spark that will travel over the synapses of her brain to allow her brain to function properly again.” 

Before I was able to finish, I knew I had made a mistake in oversharing.

I must sound insane.

I expected an awkward moment to follow, but I never expected the Vitamin Shoppe employee’s response:

“Sir, I hate to tell you this, but there is nothing in this store that will help your daughter recover. I’m sorry.” 

I immediately put down the bottle I was holding and I quickly left the store humiliated, embarrassed and dejected; with my hope under attack and virtually depleted. 

What was I thinking? 

Did I really think there was a solution to my daughter’s condition in open sight sitting on the shelf of a Vitamin Shoppe? 

Why in the world did I decide to overshare?

Embarrassment and humiliation make me start to doubt myself.

It is later that same evening and I am watching an episode of “Saving Hope,” a television show about a female doctor, Alex, whose fiancée is in a medically induced coma due to complications from a car crash.

In the episode, Alex has an idea to try to use sensory stimulation to help her fiancé, Charlie, regain consciousness.

She joins Charlie in his hospital bed.

She gets on top of him, takes off her shirt and places her comatose fiancée’s hands on her breasts hoping he has a sensory awakening.

A few seconds into her experiment a nurse walks into the room and witnessed Alex’s actions. 

Alex immediately aborts the experiment and leaves the room humiliated and embarrassed.

She asks herself, “What was I thinking?” and starts to lose hope.

But a funny thing happened the next day.

Charlie moved his finger. 

At the conclusion of the episode a North Face apparel commercial appears on the television screen.

I hear,

“Often, solutions to difficult problems reside well beyond comforts perimeter.”

Chapter 9 – The Warmth of the Sun – to be released 9/10/17

Synchronicity is the 4th book in the “Every Breath is Gold” Memoir series.

#1 – 6 Minutes Wrestling with Life

#2 – AGAIN

#3 – Your Soul Knows

All of JohnA Passaro’s books are available at these fine online stores: