What is different in our life, because we have a special child? Everyone has challenges in life and this is but another challenge! This was a thought shared by someone and hence I wondered….
It is a difficult journey each day, you have accepted that your life with your most precious one ‘your child’, is associated with a lot of pain! You make mistakes, you fall…. get up and start running again…for your child’s sake…for your sake!
Like most women, I too dreamt of being a mother one day, having a baby of my own! I was then a 26-year-old enthusiastic mother of a beautiful 3-year-old girl, who was diagnosed with Autism. It took me some time to accept that she wouldn’t be like the rest of us, couldn’t lead a normal life like others! It was too painful…but the sooner you accept better you plan!
Now I know, it was back then that I learned to ACCEPT a fact that was real.
Under the guidance of experienced specialists, I figured out that we need to focus on areas that needed hard work and practice on daily basis. This meant doing speech therapy and working on the motor and social skills regularly, without expecting immediate results! We need to focus on what to do now and what to do next! This is when I believed in…
‘Karmanyevadikaraste maa faleshu kadaachana…..”
Exposing her to a normal environment: regular school, markets, social gatherings etc. brought along hurdles of different kinds at every step! Society needed time to know learn and understand to be so positive! Finding a solution or an alternative to these obstacles was not easy but giving up was much more difficult…almost impossible! These situations made me RESILIENT more and more…each day!
I did not like complaining, I too wanted to smile, laugh, and enjoy life like the others…I mastered the skill to keep aside my ongoing struggle! I too had my share of other challenges that life has to offer! I practiced the art of CHOOSING MY BATTLE …this took time and a lot of effort! And am still learning…
My biggest learning in life while bringing up my special child has been….LOVING AND BEING KIND to others!
We do not know what the other person is going through in life….so let’s be nice to one and all!