Wednesday, January 28, 2015

How to be a happy cancer person

I found this list of things happy cancer people do not give a rat's a$$ about. I completely agree. 
  1. They don't care for letting drama into their life.
    I don't need your drama. I have enough of my own.
  2. They don't care for sweating the small stuff.
    Small stuff doesn't count when you are coping with cancer. 
  3. They don't care for statistics.
    They are just numbers. I am a person, not a number.
  4. They don't care for passing up opportunities.
    I am happy to leap for the opportunity to travel, try something new
  5. They don't care for other people's expectations.
    Why should what you think matter? I don't really care.
  6. They don't care for high maintenance relationships. 
    See drama above.
  7. They don't care for jeopardizing their health with bad habits.
    I think after cancer we all take a look at our habits and do our best to improve them so we can help keep cancer away.
  8. They don't care for rejecting help from loved ones.
    If there is one thing we learn is to accept help from others when offered. Coping with cancer can offer a dose of humility. When chemo makes you too sick to keep food in your stomach, some one else helping you cope with life is a major help.
  9. They don't care for worrying about the future.
    My one big hope is to have a future.
  10. They don't care for living in denial.
    Learning to cope with a cancer diagnosis takes you through the five step journey to get to acceptance. Denial is a step to get through and not live in.
  11. They don't care for keeping up with the Joneses.
    I'm paying medical bills so I really do not care if you bought a new car or a fancy purse. If its a new pair of shoes, that might be another story.
  12. They don't care for buckling under the fear of the unknown.
    What is unknown is will my cancer come back. I can't fear it or succumb to it. Its like terrorism, you can't let fear of it control your life.
  13. They don't care for other people's "sob stories."
    Again see drama above.
  14. They don't care for focusing on the negative.
    Ibidem or see drama above.
  15. They don't care for not living life to the fullest.
    Enjoy what you have and enjoy yourself as you do so.
Could all of this lead to that elusive new normal? I don't know. But I know it describes me fairly well.

1 comment:

Perseus PCI said...

This is such a great list. Number 7 especially hit me, though. Sometimes we don't even think about our bad habits or realize we have them. When our health and future are jeopardized, only then do we understand how important our health and good habits are.

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