#1 When Tragedy Hits...

You never forget the exact moment when tragedy hits. In a second, your world is flipped upside down. For a while, you feel like the situation you found yourself in, is unreal. But here’s the thing: it’s real. It’s all happening. And it’s okay.

Tragedy does not look for the perfect time in your life. It comes as randomly as rain in summertime. For me, it was a pivotal time in my life.

Until that moment, I was living a near-perfect life, about to take the first steps towards my goal. The problems I was facing back then were mild inconveniences. I was ready to head back to university to complete my degree and make the most of my last semester as a student. Plans for celebrating the new year were made. My tickets had been booked. And most importantly, the plan for celebrating my parents’ 25th wedding anniversary was set. After months of looking, we found the perfect venue, narrowed down the guest list and found a beautiful dress for my mom to wear.

On cloud nine, I began thinking that finally, all the pieces were falling together. And what I’d imagined to be my ideal life was merely a few days away. And just like that, the pieces fell apart. Tragedy struck.

A massive brain stroke changed our lives completely. Once the smoke cleared, everything had changed. The unexpected hit us, and hit us hard. That beautiful future we envisioned for ourselves shattered into minute pieces. But over the past year and a half, one by one, we have been working towards putting the pieces back together towards a new, equally beautiful future.

Here’s the thing folks: you cannot control every aspect of your life.

It has taken me more than 500 days to accept this bitter truth. But here’s the best part: you can control how you react to any challenges life throws at you. From here onwards, I will not refer to this event in my life as a tragedy. It was a challenge. It was a test. I certainly could not control what happened, when it happened or why it happened. Even today, I have no idea. But with incredible support from very important individuals, I can tell you today that I learnt to accept my circumstances and push forward.