Michael J. Fox is opening up about the “darkest moment” of his life with “People” magazine.
He is on the cover of this week’s issue where he revealed he was set to film a cameo in a Spike Lee movie when he fell and broke his arm. He said, “I just snapped. I was leaning against the wall in my kitchen, waiting for the ambulance to come, and I felt like, ‘This is as low as it gets for me.’ It was when I questioned everything. Like, ‘I can’t put a shiny face on this. There’s no bright side to this, no upside. This is just all regret and pain.’ “
“I thought, ‘How can I tell these people, “Chin up. Look at the bright side. Things are going to be great”?’ ”
While recovering he found the key to reclaiming his positive perspective.
“Optimism is really rooted in gratitude,” he says. “Optimism is sustainable when you keep coming back to gratitude, and what follows from that is acceptance. Accepting that this thing has happened, and you accept it for what it is. It doesn’t mean that you can’t endeavor to change. It doesn’t mean you have to accept it as a punishment or a penance, but just put it in its proper place. Then see how much the rest of your life you have to thrive in, and then you can move on.”
Michael also revealed that his “short-term memory is shot”
“I always had a real proficiency for lines and memorization. And I had some extreme situations where the last couple of jobs I did were actually really word-heavy parts. I struggled during both of them.”
He’s currently working on his fourth memoir. It’s called “No Time Like the Future”, and it’s out on the 17th of this month.
(PEOPLE)