Perspective is Everything

Perspective is Everything

If you can find a path with no obstacles, it probably doesn't lead anywhere. ~Frank A. Clark

Ever since I joined the Big C-lub, I started to use quotes to let my family and friends know where my head was at. I also found them incredibly motivating in finding my inner warrior. So I wanted to open this blog with a quote that encapsulates my topic of the day – Perspective.

I have started to think of my life in three parts these days. Part 1 was pre C, Part 2 is C present and part 3 will be post C. What was really hard to come to terms with was that Part 1 seemingly overnight ceased to exist. It is true how people always say you don’t miss something until it is gone. I missed my normal and very ordinary life desperately. I didn’t want to join a new world where white blood counts, FEC, hair loss, cell grade and malignancy ruled the roost. I started to become envious of people and the banal parts of their lives. I would watch parents pick up their kids from school outside our house, or watch people heading out for drinks on a sunny Friday and be envious. I wanted to do all those normal things I had really taken for granted for all these years without the presence of this annoying cloud over my head. Suddenly nothing was routine or normal and my new little friend was always showing up to the party without an invite!

Now looking back to my 20s, I did have fun! I worked hard and lived a very material and at times deeply selfish existence. I thought the most important things in life were having a good job, plans for friday night, always being comfortable, having good friends and family and rarely having to choose between anything because this girl wanted EVERYTHING! Well if I can again look at the silver lining here, I have been given the rare opportunity of realising what is really important in life to me. It is really simple...it is life in itself. The act of living is a gift. The millions of tiny things I used to stress over like my crow’s feet, the grey hairs popping up along my hairline, not being on track career wise, having a better savings plan, or not going to the gym enough faded away. What do I cherish these days? Well it could be a day without pain, a kiss from my daughter, a backrub from my husband or a lovely card sent from a loved one just because. So I again feel lucky to have been given this magical lens from which I am able to look at life from such a different perspective. So I will go through things that really suck, and things that will make me look a little less like the girl you all know, however I will still be me. If not a slightly improved version!