Coming off Cancer

It has been a while since I have updated everyone on the exciting story of me and my friend Hodge.  As I said in my last post, I am DONE!  I don't feel that I can say that cancer is a thing of the past because it is not, nor do I see it ever being a thing of my past.  It is now a part of who I am.  I am a survivor.  I can not allow myself to forget or set aside the lessons I've learned and the experiences that I've had.  I have a heightened awareness for others with cancer now.  Before being diagnosed I thought that cancer was a rare disease that old people or a few young children got.  I now meet many who, like me, have been affected by cancer.  My heart goes out to those who battle the beast and I will forever support and encourage those wonderful people and their families.

Since 'coming of cancer' I have taken an opportunity working in the hotel industry yet again.  Except now I am helping opening a brand new Wingate in Sidney Montana, and then Nina and I will be moving to Perry Oklahoma to open another hotel and stay there as the GM.  Life is good.  Opportunities and blessings are emerging as we re-enter "normal life".

I have had many opportunities to share my story with the people that I meet everyday.  It is funny to me how people almost don't believe me when I tell them that I just recently became clear of cancer.  Apparently I don't look like what a cancer survivor is supposed to look like.  Also, when others find out that I had cancer they are unsure how to act or approach the topic without risking me getting cancer again or something.  They feel as if they have to walk on egg shells because cancer is a secret and might offend me talking about it.  If you know me you'll know that I don't get offended easily and I'm actually excited when I can talk about cancer and I can let others know that cancer isn't contagious and its ok to talk about.

I recently was stuck in the Billings Montana airport on a layover for 3 hours.  In the terminal waiting for my flight there was a girl sitting by herself.  I knew right from the moment I saw her that she was a fellow cancer buddy.  I'm sure to others that she appeared either a sickly cancer patient on deaths bed, or a sickly drug addict lost in life.  No one would sit by the girl she was sitting right in the middle of the terminal and everyone was up against the walls trying not to stare.  I watched her for a bit, and reminded myself the aloneness that I felt before.  I have come to the realization that we are never alone.  Sometimes making a difference in life is reaching out and simply saying hello.  Which is what I did.  I walked over and said hello and struck up conversation.  It did not take long for her to explain that she was battling cancer and had Leukemia.  I said that I also had cancer and that I admired her for her courage and strength.  We talked for about two and a half hours all about our stories and our experiences.  Immediately we connected and were excited that we were not alone in this airport amidst the many other people in the terminal.  When people can relate to each other and find similarities in their differences barriers are overcome and unity can be found.  Her name is Justice and she is my friend.  In another post I will have to share her story, which is an amazing one, and her family's story.

I hope that we can all reach out and do something good.  Again the motto I always say: Do it, Do Good, and Keep Doing It!  We are limited on what we can do for others but we have limitless opportunities to do things for others.  If you want to do something for yourself, do something for someone else and you will find a unique satisfaction that can't be obtained by selfish actions.  There are a few "L's" to remember:  Listen, Learn, Love, Lift.

Listen:  We need to listen more.  If you want to come to know another then you need to listen.  There are so many voices trying to catch our attention everyday.  I'm not talking like crazy voices in my head type of thing, but I'm talking distractions.  When was the last time that you took time to listen to your own thoughts without distractions?  When was the last time that you gave your time and attention to another to simply listen?

Learn:  We need to learn more.  I could fall back and use a cheesy line "knowledge is power" we have all seen those posters in our grade school libraries, but learning is experiencing.  When I say that we need to learn more I mean that we need to experience more.  Familiarize ourselves with things that others find fascinating.  The more you understand the more capable you are able to do.  Learn all you can and experience it.

Love:  We need to love more.  I would venture to say that most people would agree with this.  So...if most people agree with this then what are most people doing to improve in this area?  I dunno.  I'm not you.  I'm not most people.  I am me.  You are you.  I think that we should learn to love ourselves.  I think that by doing that you'll see that is not enough, focusing solely on yourself you will find that there are pieces to that puzzle that are missing.  You will find that your puzzle is incomplete without others.  So how do you love others?

Lift:  We need to lift more.  I mean lifting up others through encouragement, acknowledgement, recognition, and just being nice.  If you can brighten someone's day in some way then you will find a self satisfaction that is impossible to replicate solely by yourself.  I think that I've said this on here before but think about how we all have strengths and weaknesses.  Are these strengths given to us to overcome another's weakness?  Nope.  Strengths are given to lift and support weaknesses.  Why are we not as talented or "weak" in some things compared to others?  I believe that is because it gives others opportunities to use their strengths.  Our weaknesses are not a burden, they are opportunities to strengthen strengths.  If there is something that I'm not good at then I am more than happy to allow another who is better than me to help because it gives an opportunity for that person to use their talents.  When I am asked to help someone I will never turn down an opportunity to give my strength to lift another.

I guess the moral of this story is be a friend, be a good person.  There is so much junk in the world today, but there is a lot of opportunity to do something good.  Make the decision to do something good.  Do something for yourself by doing something for someone else.