Fear

I read a lot every day. Many, many blogs, many articles, many websites. Sometimes to get ideas, sometimes to see what's going on. I write, and I love to read. Good thing I don't need to borrow Bill's glasses but for a few days after chemo.

Mostly I visit my regular haunts everyday just for normal. Normal is important now. Normal is doing the dishes, feeding the cats, helping with homework, tubby time...normal. Normal is really good.

I've added a few new sites to my daily "normal." These sites are blogs of women who are in various stages of fighting breast cancer. Strong women who are facing this evil disease head on and with their eyes wide open.

A few weeks ago...just 3 weeks ago actually, I was angry and fearful. Fear was ruling my life. My Mom was diagnosed but we didn't have pathology back. Just indications of cancer in her body from marker tests. Since she's a breast cancer survivor, that fear was steeped in whether she had a recurrence. I was in the throes of my first chemo session, beyond miserable, and absolutely certain that I was blowing the last months of my life to feeling absolutely terrible. I was certain my fight was in vain.

What lifted me up? First, word that my mother's cancer was not a breast cancer recurrence. Second, I started reading about breast cancer success stories. Yes, success stories.

To say you are a survivor simply diminishes the true accomplishment of going through breast cancer treatment.

To actually get through treatment is a huge accomplishment. To wake up to a new life requires fortitude on levels that can't be measured. To understand that fear will be your constant companion for the rest of your life requires an inner strength that is unimaginable.

And 1 out of 8 women are diagnosed with breast cancer.

Fear shouldn't be the controlling factor in the lives of 1 out of 8 women. That's appalling. But it's a truth. It has become a way of life and literally, women are thriving in spite of it!!

So dear blogging friends, gather your inner strength. Corral that fear into positive thoughts. Pace your days and demand time for you and for just living. Enjoy the puddles, the flowers, the trees, your family, your cup of tea. Keep you strong, absolutely strong, inside your head and in your heart, and don't let fear guide your life. Don't give it that power. Anymore.