Only You Can Walk This Path

In my mid-30s, I volunteered at a rare disease organization where the executive director Laura became not only a good friend, but an incredible mentor to me. She taught me some powerful lessons. Laura started her patient advocacy group for a rare genetic disease which her daughter was diagnosed with unexpectedly at the age of nine . She had no idea what to do; doctors did not provide enough information and neither did the greater health care system. Laura attended a support group for families who had a child with her daughter’s condition but felt that support groups alone did not provide the skills for the girls to become independent, empowered women. These experiences led her to start this organization which has successfully grown in leaps and bounds over the last ten  years.

I spent about a year and a half with Laura’s organization, and during that period, Laura instilled in me a sense of self-worth, self-esteem, and self-confidence. I thrived there doing everything from representing the organization at a national rare disease conference, being on a planning committee for a women’s health conference, and putting together a groundbreaking paper that was published in a medical journal. However, the most important lessons Laura taught me were that one has total responsibility for one’s life and that one is one’s own best inner teacher and guide. Nobody but you can walk your path, no matter how hard your condition is and how much support you receive from others. For the first time in my life, I learned what self-empowerment was and how powerful it can be. I thank Laura for this lesson and for how she exemplified it in the highest way herself.

These lessons strongly resonate with me to this day. As someone who has had to deal with neurological and psychological problems since childhood, I have had my share of utilizing therapists, support groups, and various healing modalities to name a few. These resources are all wonderful avenues to assist you in dealing with the incredible challenges one can face with a debilitating condition and give one a wonderful community of like-minded people. However, for me, these resources can help you, and people can be there for you only up to a point. I believe that if one is not mindful, therapists and support groups can lead to enablement and codependency. In the end, as Laura said, only you can walk this path and it begins with self-empowerment. This is something which I am committed to doing every day of my life.