MY STORY
In the summer of 2021 I was diagnosed with advanced stage glaucoma. I asked the doctor if I would go blind and the response was “we never know what technology will hold in the future”. It was then, I knew it was my time to live life.
This news terrified me. Looking at my future I became overwhelmed feeling the genuine fragility of life. Shaken, I sought advice from a friend who survived brain cancer. He asked me “what would you do if you knew you were going to die?” The awareness evoked from this question was the first step on my journey towards a new life.
During this time, an opportunity that would help chart a new path presented itself. A friend from grad school asked if I was interested in becoming a Life Coach. Up until this point I had been coasting through life as a passerby watching from the sidelines within the traditional societal infrastructure defining success. However, with this newly diagnosed chronic disease and opportunity to change going forward, my life became a blank canvas and I - the artist.
In August 2015 I returned to the United States from the People’s Republic of China to pursue a Masters degree at the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies in Washington D.C. In March 2017, I began a career in the public sector, lost a significant amount of weight and in November 2018 purchased a beautiful home. On paper my life was excellent. However, I began to notice something wrong with my left eye. When I went to the Ophthalmologist I was informed I had a cataract and a surgery was scheduled for April 2019.
During my follow up visit, the doctor referred me to a retina specialist. When I went, I was informed I needed an emergency vitrectomy. I broke. I cried. I yelled. I felt alone. Over the next four-months I had to keep my head down as I needed additional vitrectomies. I couldn’t exercise, I couldn’t do any activities, or see anyone for fear of detachment. Depression was setting in.
Right before the COVID-19 pandemic shook the entire world, I had my final (to date) vitrectomy. My retina was stable and the world was shut down. As humans everywhere scrambled to adjust, I took out my play book from the year before, looked into my comfort zone and settled in. However, I slowly began to feel a shift in my being and realized changes were beginning to occur.
In September of 2020 I became a guest client for Accomplishment Coaching. This gave me my first taste of life coaching through the lens of a client which set me on the path toward gaining confidence in taking control of my own life. Over the next year, culminating in the summer of 2021, I began to see the world differently, by finding empowerment within myself and regaining what is the power of my life. Through reshaping issues, getting rid of toxicity, while coming from my essence and having an understanding of who I was being in any situation, I became aware of the power within myself. And as this program came to an end, I was diagnosed with my glaucoma, and the opportunity to become a Life Coach presented itself.
I chose to pursue coaching professionally as I experienced its power in my own life. I went from “My life is over I am going blind, what’s the point of doing anything?” To “Life gave me the reset button to push so I can live for me and be fulfilled”.
ARE YOU READY FOR YOUR JOURNEY?
