After visiting Holland Ridge Farms this week and looking through the pictures I took, this one stood out to me. And credit to four year old Reese who took this picture of me with the umbrella. I felt like this picture stood out for a reason and I could tie it into a post. And with a rainy weekend ahead it seemed even more fitting.
One thing I’ve learned through this cancer journey is how to be positive. As a pessimist this wasn’t easy. I wasn’t used to focusing on the positive to get through difficult situations. But upon my cancer diagnosis I realized being negative will only make it worse. Let me focus on what I need to do to get through this.
And it turns out staying positive and focused worked. I took it week by week, checking off each chemo treatment as one more closer to being done. After the mastectomy, I was one step closer to hopefully being done with this cancer. I’m very nervous about my impending return to work but it’s one step closer to normal once I start back.
There were bumps along the road. It wasn’t a straight, easy journey but that’s ok because life is the same. We don’t go through life without lots of ups and downs. We develop character from how we handle adversity. Some of us face more than others, but difficult times make us stronger.
I was very frustrated when I couldn’t do anything right after the mastectomy but that was just temporary and I was able to help with the kids again after just over a week. I got down again following the post op infection I got seven weeks after the mastectomy, but thankfully we were able to remove the infected expander and I recovered fine.
In talking about rain, I am going to use one of the famous lines from The Crow, a movie that continues to grow on me each time I see it. As Eric Draven, played so brilliantly by the late Brandon Lee says, “it can’t rain all the time.” And it doesn’t. The rain eventually goes away and sunny skies appear again. But when the clouds appear, we need to learn to dance in the rain.
We learn from our experiences and learn to focus on the moment and not what lies ahead or behind us. It’s then we can put up that umbrella and smile even when it pours.
Life isn’t always sunshine and rainbows, but we can learn to put up the umbrella and shield ourselves from the dark times and focus on the positives. And that’s what I will continue to do as I go through this crazy journey called life.
#breastcancerbattle #breastcancersurvivor #chemo #mastectomy #postopinfection #returntowork #danceintherain #focusonthepositive #cancerdiagnosis #itcantrainallthetime #thecrow #onetoughmother
