[2022-07-31] Precious time
In a recent farewell to her staff and colleagues, a friend shared this quote from author Barbara Stanny:
Release the extraordinary buried inside you. Every time you leave the beaten path and aim for the exceptional, every time you silence your fear and speak with your own voice…you are owning your power and emancipating others to follow in your footsteps.
The quote reminded me of my journey over the past two years. I definitely feel as though I left the beaten path, stepping off the treadmill of long hours as a senior government executive to walk the path so many have walked before me: a journey to cope with and heal from cancer.
I faced many fears along the way, but I managed to silence most of them. I did this largely by focusing on the part of the path I could see—today and a few days into the future. For the most part, I didn't fret over the length of the journey (short or long) or how hard it would be. I just kept putting one foot in front of the other.
My journey was neither sad nor lonely. I found joy, love and gratitude along the way, and I found many kindred spirits as I shared my story. This blog was part talking to myself and part narrating my journey for anyone who cared to listen. Turns out, many people were interested. Some joined at the beginning of the journey, then—understandably—drifted away. Others picked up the story after it had begun, finding parallels between my life and their own circumstances. Still others have been with me from the very beginning and are still accompanying me wherever life and this blog take me. Like me, they are appreciative of every new chapter that appears in Jenesis.
My power is the strength to see the good in the midst of the bad, to find the positive in the negative, to choose hope in the face of despair. I know I am not alone in seeing cancer in this light. Some who faced cancer long before me and others who have joined the path since I was diagnosed have shared their light with the world. Together, we are demonstrating that cancer may not be the end. On the contrary, it may be the beginning of a new appreciation for life.
In sharing Barbara Stanny's quote, my friend noted that for her entire adult life, she has had an acute appreciation of how precious time really is. I cannot profess to having been similarly enlightened throughout my adult life. But cancer has helped me to see what's precious: time...to focus on my health...to be with loved ones...to sleep...to learn, reflect and write...to be kind...to savour...to organize...to find joy...to achieve peace.
