Sometimes we can't realise the strange turn of events in life initially. But as time passes by we understand that whatever happens, happens for a reason. Almost a year ago , when the COVID-19 pandemic had become widespread and had already claimed thousands of lives , I was extremely panic-stricken. I never failed to follow any of the safety guidelines issued by the health authorities. In fact my family would make sure that anyone who visited us from outside followed the safety protocol too. As we remained protected from the COVID-19 virus , I could rest assured that I was at a safe distance from it. But the 19th day of November changed my perspective towards life forever. I felt a stabbing pain in my left leg in the evening. It only intensified as time passed. I was unable to sleep at night. I woke up in the wee hours of the morning only to realise that I was running a high fever and my whole body was aching. As soon as the Sun rose , my parents took me to the doctor who assured us that the symptoms were not similar to that of a person affected by COVID -19 virus. Nevertheless , he advised me to get certain medical tests done. I heaved a sigh of relief knowing that it wasn't the COVID-19 virus. Only if I knew that a much bigger ailment awaited me. However , the fever never subsided , it kept coming back after 3-4 hours throughout the day. In the evening , when the reports came in, I got taken aback when I was diagnosed with Dengue fever accompanied with Anaemia and extremely low levels of Haemoglobin in my body. I felt as if my beautiful world had come crashing down to Earth suddenly. I spent the next few weeks in excruciating pain. My life had gone topsy-turvy. My dreams and plans had come to a standstill. I could hardly remain awake. My legs were giving way. The intense mental trauma while seeing everyone rushing to work everyday and on the other hand seeing myself lying on the bed all day made the situation even worse. However, I realised that I needed courage to heal myself and not just medication. So, on one fine morning , I took a diary and a pen and started writing short stories in it as that has been my favourite hobby since childhood. It was difficult in the beginning because I was extremely weak but as time progressed , I realised that the sensation of pain in my body had started to fade away. This proved that our source of happiness does act as healer. In the coming weeks, I healed faster than I had expected to. One day , I found an opportunity to publish one of my stories in a magazine. So, I wanted to grab that opportunity. But life had already had different plans in store for me. My health condition worsened all of a sudden and I fell unconscious on one particular morning. Later when I regained my senses , I learnt that the Haemoglobin level in my body had again fallen drastically which had led to such a critical situation. The deadline of the submission of the story had come and I had failed to submit the same. In the coming days, I couldn't stop myself from cursing my luck. However after a few days , I found another similar opportunity but this time I wasn't as zealous as before. Nonetheless, I submitted my story to this magazine's publisher. A month later , the doctor informed me that I had recovered greatly but I still needed to be extremely careful regarding my health. On the way back home , I received an E-mail on my phone. To my astonishment , it was from the same magazine's publisher to whom I had submitted my story earlier. It informed me that I had won the first prize for my work and that it was going to be published in their magazine. I was elated beyond imagination. All pain and sorrow seemed to vanish into thin air at that moment. As I evaluated each event from the past few months , I realised that while I was busy building a protective shield around me from COVID-19 virus , I had completely forgotten that any other malady could also affect me. No matter how paramount importance we give to our health , the tables can turn anytime unexpectedly. However that shouldn't be an impediment to our growth. Even in the worst of times, we should possess courage and be ready to wage a fierce battle against all odds. There is always light at the end of the tunnel because even I was rewarded in the end.