The broken hip was the game changer.
Five years ago, while washing the dishes, Dareen Barber fell down to a crunch. She was told to take it easy and was forbidden from moving around too much for three months. This period is what she calls “ground zero”.
But the Lebanese motivational speaker’s tale was set in motion many, many moons ago. At age 15 a routine doctor’s visit saw Barber diagnosed with bone cancer.
“I used to play basketball and I had pain in my leg, but eventually it turned out to be cancer when the doctors did the diagnosis. I had to do chemotherapy for seven months. They decided to amputate my leg,” she recalls.
Still, the loss of limb did not stilt her ambitions. And neither would her tumble.
Slowly she began to rehabilitate herself. “In one year,” recalls Barber on a wistful note, “I lost around 25kg by myself [by going to a gym].”
The mother of two, Amelio, 10 and Stacy, five, then kicked it up a notch, establishing herself as a motivational speaker. Barber, who will be speaking at the International Sports and Wellness show this week, told Gulf News tabloid! about the diagnosis that changed her life, motherhood, depression and inspiration.
Discovering a path to fitness
Five years ago I broke my hip; I slipped in the kitchen. You know like any mom, you forget yourself, so I was a bit, like, overweight and my bones got really weak, so that was one of the problems that caused my hip break. I got to re-evaluate myself and decided to rehabilitate myself; I started eating healthy, getting fit. And when I started to see results I really felt better about myself and my confidence was regained. And I fell in love with myself again and I started to dream, have passion for life and all these beautiful things started happening.
Dealing with depression post cancer
At the beginning I got the strength from my mother majorly; she’s been through everything with me. And of course, my belief in God. I used to pray a lot. I had to learn to accept my life little by little. I began to explore the new life that I was in.
Advice for others
First they have to really spend time knowing themselves. A lot of times we are hard on ourselves, we blame ourselves. Look at the positive things always. Think [of] the crux of the problem and the depression. [Now] just look at the beam of light that you can hold on to and hold on to it really tight and don’t focus on the negative.
Inspirations
I’m inspired by really great people who have achieved a lot in their life... like for example Steve Jobs, how he started. I am inspired by these people and how they really understood their mission and their life. They had a message and they were so focused [that] no matter what their circumstances [were] they reached their goal and they were successful. And this is what I focus on in my life.
On motherhood
If you don’t take care of yourself, you are not going to be a good person to others. You are always going to be negative and no one is going to want to hang out with you, even your kids. They will say, ‘why are you so sad all the time?’ and sometimes I used to get these feelings, I was sad. It’s not good for kids, because kids are very innocent. [After I began to change] they [her kids] felt they could see a new me and they were really inspired by me. They were like, ‘wow, mommy is very athletic’.
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Don’t miss it!
Dareen Barbar will be hosting a two-day seminar at the International Sports and Wellness Show at the Dubai World Trade Centre on March 28 at 3.30pm and on March 29 at 3pm.
