So often we have heard the same thing over and over again- If you think you can and you will!
Whenever we read this phrase, the general tendency is to just shrug it off and think people who have achieved phenomenal things in their life- they are exceptional by nature like the Federer’s, Nadal’s or Williams of the game. They are god gifted! But what about those people who have not achieved exceptionally well? Are they capable of pulling extraordinary feats in their lives? What if I ask you- Are you capable of achieving the impossible?
Here is a story of a young rising tennis player who in her prime age of 21 ( when she was supposed to play the game of tennis and shine brightly ) was diagnosed with Stage 2 Hodgkin's lymphoma(a type of cancer originating from white blood cells). She was ranked as World No. 20 on February 21, 2011 around the time when she first started feeling the effects of her illness!
I can only imagine the shock she must have got on hearing the news: Normally the first reaction of people who confront any trouble is- God-why me? Then we fall in the deep dungeons of depression, stress and hopelessness as if everything is over. On even knowing, there just might be a chance that we might get over our trouble, we still feel gloomy thinking what if we are not the lucky ones? But not this young lady: she posted a message for all the fans in July:
“This is the toughest time of my life till now, and I hope it always remains the toughest time of my life. I'm sure I'll be able to overcome this - it's just a matter of patience and time and I believe I have enough!
But the good news is, if I feel well after I'm done with everything, there's a chance that I'll be able to play tennis again. There is nothing for sure, but the chance is a big hope for me and it helps me to stay positive and focus on my healing every single day!” - Alisa Kleybanova
And today after 10 months of battling Cancer, she was back on the tennis court and won her comeback match. Even in her toughest times, she never lost hope and continued to fight against all the odds to make her dream of playing again come true. So what if she had one of the deadliest diseases known in the world: Cancer. Nothing could faze her determination to be back on the court to feel the excitement, emotions during her matches, the wins and the results.
She said in her Thank You message to fans: “And when you have a huge problem, even though this was completely different to anything I am used to, I was still mentally very motivated to overcome it, which obviously helped me a lot to get through it.”
How many of us have the courage to be extra ordinary like Alisa? So often we take our lives for granted and not appreciate the joy of living each day knowing we are fit, healthy and free of problems. And as soon as any signs of trouble are there, we falter and succumb to the problem!
One lesson that we all can learn from Alisa is that life is uncertain. Each day is a joy to live and no matter how difficult a situation we face in our lives, we got to stand tall and fight it with full force mentally as well as physically!
In words of Theodore Roosevelt- Believe you can and you're halfway there. Imagine if Alisa would have quit 10 months back on being diagnosed with Cancer? She never did as she knew pain was temporary but quitting would last forever!
Hats off to Alisa who definitely deserves the biggest standing ovation from all of us!