Three More Days...

Well, this is my last weekend before surgery. It's really strange and a bit amazing. It's been 3 weeks since I was diagnosed with breast cancer and physically I feel better than I have in a long time.

Two reasons for this are the life style changes I've made over the last three weeks. Tomorrow I will be 7 days smoke free. I have also changed my diet by doing away with my normal 4-5 cokes a day, 4-5 cups of coffee loaded with sugar each day, 5 or more meals eaten at fast food places, and the list goes on.

You know the saying about hind sight being 20-20. This is so true, but it is also true that we have no do-overs only options to change the present and future. Tomorrow is gone, we have only this moment in time and forward.

Many things in life can bring your world to a halt, being diagnosed with cancer is one of those. Sometimes we need the merry-go-round of life to come to an abrupt halt so we have a chance to refocus and start anew. When life throws the most unimaginable stumbling blocks in your way you have two choices. You can react or you can respond.

So what's the difference? Reaction is usually immediate. Responding involves a thought process where you make a decision about how you will allow this thing, whatever it maybe, to affect your life. You have the choice whether to let it drag you further down, or whether you look it in the face and turn it into something positive. You can choose to focus on the negative side of things and allow it to consume you, however, doing that will not make it go away.

It's been said that life is 10% of what happens to you and 90% of how you react/respond to it. You can't always change what life hands you, but you can choose to respond and turn the bad into something positive if you really, really, try. Is it easy? Heck no! Is it doable? You betcha!

Does this mean you have to be happy about what is happening in your life? No, and you will have days when you will be down and perhaps wander if the effort is worth it. Those will be the days we must call on God, friends, and family to carry us.

Here are a few quotes I'd like to share that keep me lifted up.

Friends

1. Anyone can come into your life and say how much they love you.  It takes someone really special to stay in your life and show how much they love you.
2. When you’re up, your friends know who you are.  When you’re down, you know who your friends are. 
3. Don’t look for someone who will solve all your problems; look for someone who will face them with you.

Life

1. Things turn out best for people who make the best out of the way things turn out.
2. If you don’t like something, change it.  If you can’t change it, change the way you think about it.

Bible

Romans 12:12
Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.
Isaiah 40:31But they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.
Joshua 1:9
Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”