A story is told of a 25 years old lady whose
life has proven to be a journey of unexpected challenges. Born with an autoimmune condition known as
Alopecia Areata also known as spot baldness, this lady started losing her hair
at an early age of 5. She lived with
this condition for 20 years.
At school, bullying was the norm for her as her
hair loss earned her very mean names.
While her immune system fought her hair follicles, as little as she was,
she had to deal with the trauma and stigma associated with the illness.
She developed low self-esteem as a result of
her ailment; because of the bullying and funny names her friends would often
refer her to. At a point she wanted to
stop schooling because she could not deal with the shame and disgrace but she
endured the shame and made it to the university.
Despite efforts by her parents to get their
only daughter cured from a disease that was ‘destroying’ her, no medical
procedure was successful. She resorted
to braiding the parts of her scalp that had hair and ink tattooing the parts
that were bald. After sometime even that
plan failed as the hair became so weak after each braid.
She then resorted to wearing wig caps and at
some particular time, she had over 15 wigs in her closet at the hostel. Every semester, she would spend lots of money
getting a wig cap. When the wig cap
started draining her of her money, she took a bold step to shave off the
remaining strains of hair and tattooed it.
This new style also came with its own issues
where people would judge her for her tattoos but nobody bothered to ask why she
did it. There were times she lost
opportunities and friendships because of her condition and also because at one
time people refer her as a lesbian.
This lady found comfort and acceptance when she
encountered a group of women with the same condition. Through her engagement with them, she was
able to regain her confidence and self-esteem. After graduating as an
architect, she started a modelling career through the encouragement of her
friend who introduced her to a modelling agency.
In less than a year, this lady became the face
of a popular magazine patronized beyond her home country. She was also the face of a well-attended
runways in her country.
She became the household name in the modelling
industry in her home country and also got opportunities to travel to several
nations, walking the runways and inspiring people with her story and her
strength.
Through her journey and faith she discovered
who she could be in spite of her medical circumstances. Her insecurities did not change overnight,
but she learnt to be a survivor.
She did not let her circumstances define
her. Through her counselling, she is helping
others with the condition to overcome the psychological effects of the disease
and find their passions and purpose.
LESSONS
1) Never let
your circumstances define who you are.
2) Let your
weaknesses challenge you to rather push hard and do better instead of allowing
it to derail you
3) Never
judge a person’s future by his or her current situation.
4) Success
and greatness are mostly born out of facing and overcoming challenges,
persevering and believing in yourself so don’t give up.
5) No matter
your situation, shortcomings or handicap you can still become whatever you wish
to be as long as you never admit or concede defeat.
6) Just
because you have some difficulties in life doesn’t mean you can’t make it. We have the ability to make a difference, to
change lives, be role models, and be all that we can be in spite of life’s
circumstances.
7) Live your
life on purpose with purpose for a purpose
8) No matter
the situation you find yourself, never lose faith. Build your trust in God and believe in him to
make a testimony out of your life.
9) A bit of
kindness and encouragement towards people going through hard times has a way of
uplifting their spirit and motivating them to not give up.
10) Learn not to judge people. You may not have an idea of their silent pain
and struggles.
11) Don’t let your circumstance dominate your
life, have dominion over that circumstance and turn it into your favour.
12) In situations where you’re left with little or
no option, learn to improvise.
13) Human beings are such that they will talk
anyway, so do that which would bring you comfort and is pleasing to your father
in heaven.
14) In your bid to please men you can loose
yourself, keep your focus on God.
15) There is
always a lesson in every test you go through the test without learning the
lessons.
16) Most disadvantages come with advantages
wrapped within. Unwrap the advantage
from your disadvantage. As the name
suggests dis “advantage”
17) Everyone has his or her audience, find
yours. No matter how much people avoid
you, there will always be people who will welcome you.
What lessons have you learnt?
Read also: THE YOUNG MINISTER
By Bernard Elbernard Nelson-Eshun
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