LAS VEGAS - s4story -- "I was a happy-go-lucky baby for about a year. But about the time it was determined that I should be able to take my first steps, I couldn't. My premature birth had left me with a condition known as Cerebral Palsy. The doctors told my parents that I could crawl, be carried, or pushed in a wheelchair, but I would never walk. And that's how my story started," says author Mark I. Jacobson.

Jacobson proved all the doctors wrong. It took a while, and it wasn't easy. The doctors took their best shot during his formative years. It wasn't until his mid-teens that he took matters into his own hands.

"It was way before the Americans with Disabilities Act came into effect. I started seeing several things I couldn't do. I decided that something had to change. I adopted a crash and burn attitude. I was going to put everything I had into getting out of the wheelchair. If I didn't succeed, there would be nothing left for me to try."

Thus began a painful journey of pushing the envelope and self-discovery. It was a journey that took him through a four-year commitment to experimental surgeries. He learned how to walk, from step one, seven times. He also dealt with the suicidal death of a girlfriend and his parents dying within two weeks of each other... all before he was 35 years old.

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"I truly believe that what doesn't kill you, makes you stronger. I've seen a side of life that most people don't because they are moving through life so fast. Life has forced me to move slowly. It has taught me a lot about who I am and how much I can endure."

Jacobson will be speaking to organizations, businesses and small groups. His talks are not based on book learning and lectures. They are based on real world experiences and a genuine affinity for his audience.

"I'm not a psychiatrist or a psychologist. I don't even play one on television," he jokes. "I just enjoy talking to people about how they can learn from adversity. Instead of being a messenger of despair, adversity can be a tool for growth. In my talks, I use real life and relatable moments from my own life, as examples.

"My talks are interactive, upbeat, enlightening, and generously sprinkled with humor. Audiences leave feeling hopeful and empowered. In these uncertain times, isn't that what we all need?"

Jacobson is a book author, magazine feature writer and technology geek. His current book series is TheYearOfMyLifeVR.com. He describes the series as a Continuum book series because when the book ends, the story doesn't.