Jennifer Aniston’s boyfriend, Jim Curtis, lived with partial paralysis and nerve damage for years before he could bring himself to talk about it openly.
The 50-year-old hypnotist sat down with Aniston at New York City’s 92nd Street Y to discuss his new book, The Book of Possibility. During the event, Curtis recalled a late-night ER visit in his 20s where he spent 13 hours in “severe pain” before getting a “really scary diagnosis” — lesions on his spinal cord.
Those spinal lesions caused permanent, chronic nerve damage, leaving him with partial paralysis. After doing a quick internet search on his phone in the hospital bed, Curtis said he felt his body “freeze and seize up,” but he decided right then not to let the panic take over, telling himself: “Tomorrow, everything changes.”
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Lying to Hide the Truth
Even as he moved forward, coping with a visible limp and chronic physical limitations as a young man triggered a deep sense of shame. Curtis admitted he felt so embarrassed by his body’s limitations that he lied to people for years, calling the diagnosis “an ultimate low.”
“I would say I got into a motorcycle accident,” Curtis said, per People. “I was so shameful that I had a medical condition. [I thought] I was broken in some way. I thought the motorcycle accident was at least a little macho.”
It took him 25 years to get past that shame and accept his health for what it was.
Grounded Advice for Real Life
Today, Curtis uses his experience to help others reframe their personal struggles, encouraging people not to view themselves as victims.
“What I’m saying is that you don’t have to live as the victim,” he explained. “You don’t have to live in your suffering. It can become your power. As soon as you accept it and love it [you can move beyond it].”
During the panel, Aniston (who’s been in a relationship with Curtis since July 2025) asked him how he advises people who feel trapped in a “rat race” but want to make a meaningful change.
Curtis gave a realistic answer. He brought up the fact that most people can’t just walk away from their lives when they have rent, medical bills, and kids to feed. Instead of making drastic moves, he suggested making small, intentional mindset changes so fear stops running the show.
He added: “You don’t have to let fear stop you from living your dream. You can manifest at any time by placing your focus on the outcomes that you want.”
