An old man and his son lived in an abandoned fortress on the side of a hill. Their only possession of value was a horse. One day the horse ran away. The neighbours came by to offer sympathy. "That's really bad!" they said. "How do you know?" asked the old man.

The next day, the horse returned, bringing with it several wild horses. The old man and his son shut them all inside the gate. The neighbours hurried over. "That's really good!" they said. "How do you know?" asked the old man.

The following day, the son tried riding one of the wild horses, fell off, and broke his leg. The neighbours came around as soon as they heard the news. "That's really bad!" they said. "How do you know?" said the old man.

The day after that, the army came through, forcing the local young men into service to fight a faraway battle against the northern barbarians. Many of them would never return. But the son couldn't go, because he'd broken his leg.

For me alopecia has been like the Chinese story of the old man and his son. There have been many times when someone would have come up to me and said "that's really bad" as well as "that's really good" and I've found that one cannot rely of what others perceive - the critics. One can never make a critic happy!

Like the old man I think to myself "how do you know?" simply because most people I meet everyday have no clue (but think they do) about what it's like to have alopecia. If it was not for my alopecia, many of my strengths would have stayed hidden away. If it wasn't for my alopecia I never would have suffered which has made me strong enough and completely willing to help others.

Having a broken leg is not good but not dying at war is better. Having alopecia is not good but the opportunities it has given me are. It's all about how you look at your situation. If you want it to be bad then it will be bad, same goes for good. Your life is what you make it out to be. Stop listening to opinions and make the best of your situation!