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Day 8 of #31DaysOfCF: Self-acceptance Helped Save My Life
For 34 years Stephanie Stavros’ kept hear health struggle a secret. No one outside her direct family and a few friends knew that she was born with CF. For decades, one of her greatest fears was the everyone would find out.
Stephanie thought that if she controlled the dialogue about her health, she would control the outcome. But with time, the weight of the secret began to break her faster than the disease.
Through therapy and a great deal of self-discovery, Stephanie worked super hard to find self-acceptance. She began sharing her story. Fast-forward to today and she’s co-founded a CF movement and has publicly shared her story on live shows, podcasts, books and interviews.
“It’s amazing what you can do when you let go of self-hate and find compassion for yourself.”
Stephanie, it takes so much courage to share one’s true story, kudos to you!
Now back to our CF Community: How does it make you feel when others find out about your life with CF?
To read the rest of Stephanie’s story, and learn more about where and how she’s sharing her story, click here.
Our #31DaysOfCF initiative is running for the entire month of May. Each day, we are featuring a different story, and a different view of life with CF. To read all of the stories, visit our website.
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2 Replies
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Self acceptance is indeed the key to a really happy life. Denying is a bad way of coping with what is. Acceptance is however not a means of coping in itself, it is just the first step. After this, we need to let go completely and let life take its natural course. If we fully comply, all will be complete, nothing is lacking and nothing is in excess. There is not even the need to identify with the situation after accepting. There is just what is and what presents naturally. It is not special, it needs no identification, it is completely free. There is no need for doing even. Everything happens by itself. And we are it.
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Perhaps I’m biased, since Stephanie has become a dear friend of mine, but I really love this story. She is one of Canada’s most outspoken advocates for the cystic fibrosis community. I’m sure there are many who can relate to her desire to control the narrative (it’s a story I’ve heard so often) but letting go and finding the self-acceptance she speaks of has benefitted so many in our community. Thanks for all you do, Steph!
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