It's Over!

Isn't it amazing what we 'hear' when we're ready for the message! I find sometimes that I'll read a passage many times and then, one day, it seems like the most important message I could have received and applies directly to whatever I'm facing or struggling with!

On this topic of fully 'getting' that this particular cancer episode is over and we can move on without crippling fear, I'll recount my own recent awakening. I was talking with the counselor at my breast center and explaining how I was afraid that if I allowed myself to have hope that the cancer was gone for good, it would come back and slam me down again. She seemed to understand and proposed that, like death (which I had also discussed), if I acknowledged its reality (or possibility in the case of the recurrence) and kind of gave it a 'nod of recognition,' it might be easier to move on and just go about the task at hand which is, of course, living my life. Well it wasn't like this woman had come up with an astoundingly unique idea...it was just that I actually HEARD her. What she said resonated completely with me and fit right into that hole of fear I'd been nurturing. I'm sure that if I had heard it a week earlier, I would have replied with a "yeah, whatever" and continued to hold onto the terror. As the adage says...'when the student is ready, the teacher appears.'

I'm also reminded, Rocktobermom, of a line from Desiderata, a piece that I recently 're-heard' and am including in my morning meditations. The line goes:

"Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune.
But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings."

Thanks for posting and allowing me to further flesh out my thoughts. And congratulations on another step in the moving-on process!

~Marin

My friend said something to me the other day that sort of made me angry until I realized "how" she meant it.

My friend has REALLY bad rheumatoid arthritis. She got RA in her early 30s and she is close to 60 now. She said to me, Be glad that you don't have an ongoing disease. My thought was, WHAT? I then said to her, No doctor will EVER tell me I'm CURED! There IS NOT CURE for breast cancer. It can come back ANYTIME! Then she said to me, Don't you believe God can cure you? She continued on by saying, Every night when I pray I thank God that HE has cured you.

Now, we know there is no cure for this disease. And I will never say that I AM cured. But, yes, I do believe miracles can happen. And I can HOPE that I have been cured. HOPE is all we have and I do believe that the scriptures gives us HOPE.

Thanks for sharing, Roctobermom. I don't think you were preaching.
Shirley

It occurs to me that copying the entirety of Desiderata here might benefit some readers who aren't familiar with it or who have forgotten its message. I try to read this every morning:

Desiderata

Go placidly amid the noise and haste,
and remember what peace there may be in silence.
As far as possible without surrender
be on good terms with all persons.
Speak your truth quietly and clearly;
and listen to others,
even the dull and the ignorant;
they too have their story.

Avoid loud and aggressive persons,
they are vexations to the spirit.
If you compare yourself with others,
you may become vain and bitter;
for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.
Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans.


Keep interested in your own career, however humble;
it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.
Exercise caution in your business affairs;
for the world is full of trickery.
But let this not blind you to what virtue there is;
many persons strive for high ideals;
and everywhere life is full of heroism.


Be yourself.
Especially, do not feign affection.
Neither be cynical about love;
for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment
it is as perennial as the grass.


Take kindly the counsel of the years,
gracefully surrendering the things of youth.
Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune.
But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings.
Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.
Beyond a wholesome discipline,
be gentle with yourself.


You are a child of the universe,
no less than the trees and the stars;
you have a right to be here.
And whether or not it is clear to you,
no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.


Therefore be at peace with God,
whatever you conceive Him to be,
and whatever your labors and aspirations,
in the noisy confusion of life keep peace with your soul.


With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams,
it is still a beautiful world.
Be cheerful.
Strive to be happy.


Max Ehrmann, Desiderata, Copyright 1952.

Good for you Betsy!