Friday, December 26, 2008
What About Now
Enjoy and more later...
Monday, December 15, 2008
Clouded Vision
Thursday, December 11, 2008
The Words of Others
Today his words are enough said...
http://cewilton.blogspot.com/2008/12/december-9-2008-david-bailey.html
more later
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Ikigai
The balance of worry, the unknown, the stories you read and hear, the fact that "the timing of this just isn't good" and oh yeah, don't forget you have cancer and through all this, life must go on.
Ikigai, the sense of life worth living came to me today through listening to the radio while driving to work. Sometimes it seems that when one asks, the answer appears. What to make of all this time, between the doctor visits and the waiting...the purpose of life. This will mean different things to each of us, but just the thought to live each day with a purpose, to live with hope, live with happiness and just to live. What the purpose is remains unknown but just to be reminded that there is a purpose to life was all I needed to hear this day, at that time driving, to help make the day start off in a good direction. I guess I have something to be thankful for this season.
L'Chaim
Friday, November 14, 2008
Choices
In every moment...Something sacred is at stake
Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel
Nothing like a 5 hour plane ride across the country to have the time to clean out the email inbox. Came across this quote and it brought calmness to the flight. Having to leave family to work is tough. Missing time to rest, play, laugh and share times with my family often takes it's toll. But in every moment, something sacred is at stake. I cannot be anywhere else than here at this moment so I will make the best of what I am given. The opportunity to read, sit quietly(with the help of noise reduction headphones), watch a movie and write. I am reminded of something I wrote when I passed my 1 year mark from diagnosis. At the time, I was thinking about choices and what the previous year had meant. I wrote.
As I come to a year after being diagnosed (July 3rd), my mind is racing with thoughts of what the last year has brought and what lies ahead. I had the realization that I can make choices daily and that certain things are out of my control. I can choose what to put into my body as far as food and drink goes, I can choose what to put into my mind through thoughts, prayer, reading, music and quiet moments. I can choose to exercise to strengthen my body and mind, I can choose what to take on each day that gives me energy and choose to avoid those things that take energy away from me. All this and the hope that my journey will travel many miles before this dreadful disease takes it's toll. Each day IS a choice and I cherish the idea that I do have choices.
More to come.
Thursday, November 6, 2008
Hope
The following is a poem by Wendy Harpham, MD from her book,
Happiness In A Storm
Posted with permission of author
Hope is an image of goals
planted firmly in your mind.
When looking at life before you,
hope lines the paths you find.
Hope is a well of courage
nestled deep within your heart.
When faltering in fear and doubt,
hope pushes you to start.
Hope is an urge to keep going,
for limbs too tired too tired and weak.
When apathy stills all desire,
hope sparks the fuel you seek.
Hope is a promise of patience
as you wait for distress to wane.
When all you can do is nothing,
hope pulls you through the pain.
Hope is a spirit that lifts you,
should heaviness pull at your soul.
When torn apart by losses,
hope mends to keep you whole.
Many days, hope is what provides energy, hope is what provides strength, hope is what provides security and hope provides the belief that no matter what lies ahead, all will be well.
Some things I hope for...
The opportunity to laugh each day
A long joy filled life with my wife
A smile each day from my son
Chances to travel near and far
The strength to face the road ahead
The opportunity to make a difference
The ability to make positive health choices
Many chances to share a meal with friends and family
The day when my cancer no longer will be chronic
To live with hope is something I have adopted within my new "normal" life.
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
A New "Normal" Way of Life
It was then brought to my attention that no matter what I did from this point forward, my life as I once knew would no longer be possible. Yes, I could make the choice to deny that I have been diagnosed with cancer and try to fight the shift towards a new way of life or I could accept the change and make a decision to live life.
Some have made the analogy that cancer is like a 800 lb. monster in the room. You can try to fight the monster or you can embrace it and learn to live with it. Every person must make many choices when faced with a diagnosis of any type of cancer, and one of my choices is to embrace the monster, hope for a cure, make the best choices I can for my own health and most of all, live life.
Embrace can be defined in many ways, to take or clasp in the arms, to avail oneself of, to take in with the eye and mind or to encircle just to name a few. It does not mean that I wish or desired this to be part of my life but I accept that it is there nonetheless.
So now come the choices...how to accept this new way of life and live it to the fullest. One resource I recently read is the book,
AntiCancer: A New Way of Life by David Servan-Schreiber, MD, PhD. This book brings forth information, backed by the research, on important aspects of self care that can be taken on by those diagnosed with cancer. Written in a way that is easy to follow, well documented and very practical from first hand knowledge of the authors' own story of cancer.
The following video clip provides a preview as told by the author.
More later
Sunday, October 26, 2008
Where it all began
From the standpoint of a 43 year old male, anything chronic outside of happiness and a large bank account doesn't sound too appealing.