Cherish what you have
My friend Julie gave me a book called "Simple Pleasures" and I found in there the following quote which has repeatedly motivated me in weak times, kicking me out of lows: Cherish what you have got,
do not regret what you have not got. Once you turn your focus from what you have NOT got to cherishing what you HAVE got, the memories and experiences you have made, the years you have spent with your loved ones, … you feel truly rich and you count your blessings with gratitude.
On my first hospital day after the double breast amputations, I shared the room with another breast cancer patient. She was my age, lost one breast to cancer and cried bitterly, “I have lost everything: my left breast, I am divorced, my dog died some months ago”. I was astonished that she saw everything so bleak because I saw her before and after the operation, always being surrounded by her loving new boyfriend, her 3 daughters, her parents, …. and while I was unable to leave the bed, she was already up and walking around. Yet, in her weakest moments she was overwhelmed with despair and did not see all the good surrounding her.
My very personal approach is to always try to put everything into perspective, pushing myself into helicopter mode and changing my perspective. It's a very conscious "kick into the butt" and helps me to realise that life could always be worse, that my hardship is little in comparison to so many others. Just think: I am sure there is another mother my age out there, for example in Syria, who lacks medical cancer treatments, who has no outlook what so ever to be cured. And while I am impatient to get more strength, I am aware that I can walk on my own 2 feet while others depend on helping hands to move around and have a much longer road to recovery.
