Thursday, July 9, 2009

Well, what would you say?

Let's face it, there is nothing I love about having cancer.

This is not to say that the past sixteen months haven't been, on balance, wonderful. I wouldn't have missed them, and I look forward joyfully to the next however long. But, surprising as it may seem, I would have enjoyed them even more without the disease.

I've actually seen a book in which the writer said that cancer was the best thing that ever happened to him. He said
a) Cancer was a wake-up call. He stopped putting off all the things he'd wished he'd done and went ahead and did them.
b) It reminded him of all the good things he had in his life. He appreciated them more.
c) He felt closer to his family.
d) He learned to live in the moment.

Grand. These are things that we should all do. However, discovering that you have cancer is far from a necessary requirement. It is possible to fulfill oneself, appreciate one's life, feel closer to loved ones, and live in the eternal now without going through tests and procedures, surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy. So there.

2 comments:

Blue Spruce said...

I definitely agree with you, Lucie. In my life I have often observed people who, when some calamity occurred, looked at the bright side and said, "Well we are very lucky that X". For example, the car was totaled, but we are very lucky that we were wearing seatbelts. I have always thought that this attitude was moronic. It just makes them look like idiots. In addition, I think that people who are excessively thankful for stupid things kind of devalue any thanks they might offer when something really good might occur, like the boy who cried wolf.
Aristotle advocated a golden mean, and therefore the reverse attitude would be equally bad, i.e. if anything good happened, to look at the bad side of it. Like we won the lottery, but now our taxes are going to increase and we'll probably be visited by relatives asking for handouts. People who are constantly kvetching, when they really do have a valid complaint, kind of lose their credibility on that too.
But if a stoical person ever gives thanks or makes a complaint, you can rest assured it is noteworthy.

Anonymous said...

I really appreciate with u.Have A Nice Day.

Merry

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