Read Gerri's Leaf Story
ON THE PATH...
thoughts along the way
When we feel stuck, going nowhere – even starting to slip backward – we may actually be backing up to get a running start. – Dan Millman
The other night I fell asleep listening to the radio. I had some troubling and challenging issues on my mind and wanted to drown out those thoughts. As I awoke, the radio was still on. The most beautiful choir of voices was singing and they were heavenly. I’d never heard anything so nurturing or comforting before. This choir was singing very, very slowly and it sounded like a thousand voices flowing through the speakers. These were the words of Irving Berlin. If you’re worried and you can’t sleep, Just count your blessings instead of sheep. And you’ll fall asleep Counting your blessings. Those words spoke to me as I was partially asleep. I had asked God for guidance before drifting off and there was my answer. I thought how easy it is to just appreciate what we have and count our blessings. For a long time it had seemed to me that life was about to begin – real life. But there was always some obstacle in the way, something to be got through first, some unfinished business, time still to be served, a debt to be paid. Then life would begin. At last it dawned on me that these obstacles were my life. – Fr. Alfred D’Sousa Life brings us challenges and it is how we react to them that makes all the difference. The other day a woman came to the office to place an ad in phenomeNEWS. Sabaa was tall in stature and held her head high as she entered my office. As we talked, she related to me that she was opening a center for metaphysical studies and spiritual development. It is called Nirvana. She said that she has been a motivational speaker for many years. As we spoke further, she shared her life story with me. She said that one day, she realized she was losing large amounts of hair. Every day more hair would come out on her brush. She was also slowly losing the hair all over her entire body. She lost her eyebrows and eyelashes as well. Sabaa was so upset about what was happening to her and she didn’t want anyone – not even her own family – to know about her condition. She experienced many restless nights unable to sleep worrying about her condition. Sabaa felt awkward and out of place with the secret of her hair loss and her self-esteem brought her to an all time low. She thought that if anyone saw her without any hair, they would want to “throw tomatoes at her.” Sabaa sought medical help and she was told that she has a condition known as “alopecia universalis,” an auto immune disorder that usually affects young babies and children. This condition meant that Sabaa would lose all the hair on her body. She couldn’t understand why no one else in her family had this condition. Why her? Sabaa went out and bought wigs to cover up this “secret.” It took four months for her hair to fall out. She related that one day she was scheduled to meet a lawyer in Detroit on Griswold Avenue. She told me that she always walked with her head down so her wig would stay on since there was nothing to hold it onto her head. As she stepped out of her car that day, a gust of wind came and blew her wig off of her head! It rolled like a leaf in the wind. She was so embarrassed and didn’t know what to do. Should she chase it or get back in the car? She decided not to chase the wig and get back in the car. This was to be one of her defining moments. Sabaa had other wigs at home and continued to wear them for ten years. Only her family knew her secret yet they never saw her head without one of her wigs. At a pool party during this time, the guys were throwing the girls into the pool. One guy came after Sabaa and she fought him off but he threw her into the pool anyway. Her wig came off and she was devastated. Her friends gathered around her saying “We didn’t know. Do you have cancer?” She told them of her condition and there seemed to be sympathy amongst her friends for what she was going through. She left with a towel wrapped around her head. At one point Sabaa was on steroids for her condition and she hoped that her hair would grow back. Instead, she gained 80 pounds. She marched back to her doctor and said, “I can’t be fat and bald. I need to get off the steroids.” And she did just that. Sabaa came to a point in her life after wearing her wigs (no one knew) for 10 years that she needed to accept herself for herself and stepped forward out of her house not wearing her wig. It was “do or die!” She stepped out proudly and thought that if they were going to like her, they would have to accept her with no hair on her head. Sabaa has become a spokesperson for alopecia universalis. She talks to cancer patients and have lost their hair due to chemotherapy. She assures them that their hair will grow back, yet hers won’t. She says things could be worse than losing all of her hair. Sabaa now has a new motivational message to give to everyone. This message is to love yourself, just as you are and own your own person by elevating your self-esteem. Sabaa has been on many, many talk shows throughout the years, including Montell Williams and Sally Jesse Raphael just to name a few. She speaks openly that whatever condition you have can be a blessing in disguise. She told me that if they found a cure for alopecia, she would refuse it. She has learned so much from her experience that she wouldn’t trade it for anything. She knows what her purpose in life is and that is to motivate others who are experiencing tragedy in their lives and turn that tragedy into triumph. It helps to shift our perspective. By doing that, we can stop feeling victimized by what is happening. Instead, we can consciously work with the challenge of the moment to learn more about ourselves and others in the world. When we make this shift in attitude, we discover that we are strong, powerful and self-assured. I’ve found that appreciating and counting my blessings when I can’t sleep is the answer. Why worry? We can’t change things. My friend told me that when she cant sleep she begins from A to Z in the alphabet. She appreciates A: her arms for helping her to reach to others in love and to help her carry things. B: for her back, for caring her along each day or for the butterfly she saw today. C: for her car that gets her to where she needs to be. Things and situations often have a way of turning themselves around. Try it, from A to Z. So if you’re worried and you cant sleep Just count your blessings instead of sheep And you’ll fall asleep Counting your blessings... Have a blessed Thanksgiving... giving thanks!
The other night I fell asleep listening to the radio. I had some troubling and challenging issues on my mind and wanted to drown out those thoughts. As I awoke, the radio was still on. The most beautiful choir of voices was singing and they were heavenly. I’d never heard anything so nurturing or comforting before. This choir was singing very, very slowly and it sounded like a thousand voices flowing through the speakers. These were the words of Irving Berlin.
If you’re worried and you can’t sleep, Just count your blessings instead of sheep. And you’ll fall asleep Counting your blessings.
Those words spoke to me as I was partially asleep. I had asked God for guidance before drifting off and there was my answer. I thought how easy it is to just appreciate what we have and count our blessings.
For a long time it had seemed to me that life was about to begin – real life. But there was always some obstacle in the way, something to be got through first, some unfinished business, time still to be served, a debt to be paid. Then life would begin. At last it dawned on me that these obstacles were my life.
– Fr. Alfred D’Sousa
Life brings us challenges and it is how we react to them that makes all the difference.
The other day a woman came to the office to place an ad in phenomeNEWS. Sabaa was tall in stature and held her head high as she entered my office. As we talked, she related to me that she was opening a center for metaphysical studies and spiritual development. It is called Nirvana. She said that she has been a motivational speaker for many years. As we spoke further, she shared her life story with me. She said that one day, she realized she was losing large amounts of hair. Every day more hair would come out on her brush. She was also slowly losing the hair all over her entire body. She lost her eyebrows and eyelashes as well. Sabaa was so upset about what was happening to her and she didn’t want anyone – not even her own family – to know about her condition. She experienced many restless nights unable to sleep worrying about her condition. Sabaa felt awkward and out of place with the secret of her hair loss and her self-esteem brought her to an all time low. She thought that if anyone saw her without any hair, they would want to “throw tomatoes at her.”
Sabaa sought medical help and she was told that she has a condition known as “alopecia universalis,” an auto immune disorder that usually affects young babies and children. This condition meant that Sabaa would lose all the hair on her body. She couldn’t understand why no one else in her family had this condition. Why her?
Sabaa went out and bought wigs to cover up this “secret.” It took four months for her hair to fall out.
She related that one day she was scheduled to meet a lawyer in Detroit on Griswold Avenue. She told me that she always walked with her head down so her wig would stay on since there was nothing to hold it onto her head. As she stepped out of her car that day, a gust of wind came and blew her wig off of her head! It rolled like a leaf in the wind. She was so embarrassed and didn’t know what to do. Should she chase it or get back in the car? She decided not to chase the wig and get back in the car. This was to be one of her defining moments. Sabaa had other wigs at home and continued to wear them for ten years. Only her family knew her secret yet they never saw her head without one of her wigs.
At a pool party during this time, the guys were throwing the girls into the pool. One guy came after Sabaa and she fought him off but he threw her into the pool anyway. Her wig came off and she was devastated. Her friends gathered around her saying “We didn’t know. Do you have cancer?” She told them of her condition and there seemed to be sympathy amongst her friends for what she was going through. She left with a towel wrapped around her head.
At one point Sabaa was on steroids for her condition and she hoped that her hair would grow back. Instead, she gained 80 pounds. She marched back to her doctor and said, “I can’t be fat and bald. I need to get off the steroids.” And she did just that.
Sabaa came to a point in her life after wearing her wigs (no one knew) for 10 years that she needed to accept herself for herself and stepped forward out of her house not wearing her wig. It was “do or die!”
She stepped out proudly and thought that if they were going to like her, they would have to accept her with no hair on her head. Sabaa has become a spokesperson for alopecia universalis. She talks to cancer patients and have lost their hair due to chemotherapy. She assures them that their hair will grow back, yet hers won’t. She says things could be worse than losing all of her hair.
Sabaa now has a new motivational message to give to everyone. This message is to love yourself, just as you are and own your own person by elevating your self-esteem. Sabaa has been on many, many talk shows throughout the years, including Montell Williams and Sally Jesse Raphael just to name a few. She speaks openly that whatever condition you have can be a blessing in disguise. She told me that if they found a cure for alopecia, she would refuse it. She has learned so much from her experience that she wouldn’t trade it for anything. She knows what her purpose in life is and that is to motivate others who are experiencing tragedy in their lives and turn that tragedy into triumph.
It helps to shift our perspective. By doing that, we can stop feeling victimized by what is happening. Instead, we can consciously work with the challenge of the moment to learn more about ourselves and others in the world. When we make this shift in attitude, we discover that we are strong, powerful and self-assured.
I’ve found that appreciating and counting my blessings when I can’t sleep is the answer. Why worry? We can’t change things. My friend told me that when she cant sleep she begins from A to Z in the alphabet. She appreciates A: her arms for helping her to reach to others in love and to help her carry things. B: for her back, for caring her along each day or for the butterfly she saw today. C: for her car that gets her to where she needs to be. Things and situations often have a way of turning themselves around. Try it, from A to Z.
So if you’re worried and you cant sleep Just count your blessings instead of sheep And you’ll fall asleep Counting your blessings... Have a blessed Thanksgiving... giving thanks!
Gerri Magee is director of advertising and public relations and assistant to the editor of phenomeNEWS. She continues to share her thoughts “On The Path” in this column. She can be reached at gerri@phenomenews.com.
