The Choice

I think about cancer every day; about how I will beat it.

A friend of mine sent me this anonymous quote a few weeks after my surgery; it very clearly describes my philosophy on cancer and life:

“Our lives are not determined by what happens to us,
but how we react to what happens;
not by what life brings to us,

but by the attitude we bring to life.
A positive attitude causes a chain reaction of positive thoughts, events, and outcomes.

It is a catalyst…a spark that creates extraordinary results.”

I'm always amazed when people say things like, "I can't believe how strong you and Anne are in the face of your fight." Lance Armstrong, in his first book, "It's Not About the Bike," had this to say:

"We have a choice both medically and emotionally. . . give up or fight like hell."

For us it's that simple. Giving up was never, and is not now, an option. I tell people who ask all the time that they have an active choice to make about being a victim or a survivor, and I do believe there is a specific moment in which you are conscious of that decision. If you choose to give up and believe you are a victim, you are - throw in the towel, forget treatment, forget hope, it ain't gonna happen without it! If we choose to live, to not only survive but to thrive, I believe we will.

Your steadfast belief in that survival decision will carry through your treatments, recovery and through the rest of your life with cancer. You have to, have to, believe it. As has been said, again by Lance Armstrong (who if you have not guessed by now is a personal hero of mine - more on that in future posts), "Cancer my leave your body, but it never leaves your life." Just because it never leaves your life, doesn't mean it controls your life, though. You have the power to decide how you will face the challenge. You have the power to live your life on your terms.

Never give up.