Rare warrior

Posted by Arouba Kabir, Gurugram, Haryana

Hey guys,

I am Arouba, a mental health therapist and counselor. For all my life, I have been battling with cystic fibrosis (CF). It is a rare progressive genetic condition.

This lockdown for me necessarily hasn’t been as tough as compared to a healthy individual. As far as staying indoors, wearing a mask while stepping out and physical distancing are concerned, I have been doing these for years. 

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With the medical condition I have, it does make me more anxious, as all CF patients are more prone to lung abnormalities. We require frequent hospitalisation and loads and loads of medication. So, it does make me ponder as to what will happen if  I run out of medicines? If I have to be hospitalised? Given the fragile lung condition, this unprecedented situation can be very cruel to me. To us.

However, I have trained my mind to understand that the despair we experience is way more than the disease. You don’t get to choose, whether you have or don’t have a disease. But what you can choose is how you deal with it. If you let the condition of a disease consume you, trust me, it is not going to help. Train your mind to be stronger than ever. Then you will witness how gracefully you can overcome everything that challenges you. 

My advice for everyone as a mental health therapist would be : 
1. Start journaling. It will help you feel a sense of gratitude that will in turn reduce anxiety and unnecessary stress.
2. Talk and connect to people, express your fear and you will realise you are not in it alone. 
3. Increase your duration of meditation and breathing exercises to make your lungs stronger. 

I understand these times are tough. But this is exactly the hour, when we need to make our minds and willpower even tougher. 

Stay indoors. Stay safe.

Signing off,
Arouba Kabir
EnsowellnessStudio

PS: To learn more about my battle with CF, you can check my blog https://livewithcf.com/