Rihla #23

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My "This I Believe"

I believe in overcoming your obstacles and setbacks. I believe that nothing should stop you from what you want to do. I believe one can do anything if they put their heart and soul into it, and they believe in themselves. I believe that having faith and hope through situations the odds can be defeated. A significant experience that I encountered as a child was hip surgery. I was born with my bone shifting out of the socket, but we did not realize it until I was growing up. I started to experience pains on my hip and sometimes could not even walk. We went to go see a bone specialist and the doctor diagnosed that I needed surgery right away. If I did not take action soon then I would not be able to do the things that I do now. I had hip surgery on August 25th, 2006 and it was very tough for my family. My bone had popped out of my socket and it caused me pain to walk or to do anything I would normally do on a daily basis. There are dangerous risks that can come out of surgery and I was scared because it was going to be my first surgery ever. I had to be very strong for my family and friends even though deep down inside I was terrified. It is an experience that I will never forget. I am glad that it happened because the surgery helped me to walk again and do things that I love to do, like dancing and running. My sister and I do these things together on a daily basis. We joined a dance team at our school and run every other day. At first, my parents did not want me to join the cross country club because they did not want what has happened to me to occur again. Nevertheless, I decided to do what I wanted to do because I enjoy doing daily activities, being in sports, and being active. It is an experience that will forever impact my life with what I do, but I do not let nothing stop me from achieving my goals and dreams. I thank God that I can walk, dance, and run again.

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