Ask An Expert: I’ve Been Forced To Give Up My Passion. How Can I Stay Positive?

Viva I Monday Sep. 25, 2023

Disability advocate, breast cancer and heart-attack survivor and author Minnie Baragwanath helps a reader reframe a crisis.

Hello X, first, I am so very sorry to hear about your situation. It sounds very challenging and quite confronting for you. I would never want to presume to know exactly what it is you are going through and how you are feeling; this is a very individual experience.

What I can do is share some of my strategies for navigating difficult times of loss, moments of dramatic health issues, and other life events that can deeply challenge our identity and sense of who we are in the world. Perhaps it might provide some solace or might resonate with you in some way that is helpful and meaningful. I do hope so.

In my experience, times of major crisis in our lives are always an extraordinary opportunity to reevaluate our lives and ourselves. I would advise always finding a way to look both inward and outward and to ask ourselves the difficult questions: What is going on here? Why am I feeling this way? What can I learn from this and how can I grow? What is my stuff, and what absolutely is not mine and is being projected onto me by others around me (no matter how well intended)?