It's all about perspective...
I've felt terribly vainglorious over the past week. In addition to wanting to use that word since I learnt it many moons ago, I did actually feel that way. My new-found secret makes me feel I'm special. I've joked (half-seriously) that I should use my lil' lump of cancer to get ahead in the line. Why me? Because I have this, I need to be compensated for it... it's not an uncommon reaction to the weight of a diagnosis of cancer. ...G and my ever-patient friends quickly hid their shock at my crass humour.
But quickly-enough, this past weekend, reality bit. As I walked down my street, I passed a kid, not yet past his teens, pushing his mother in a wheelchair. She was in hospital garb, paralysed, a beautiful face that adored him, twisted into a stasis she may never be able to shake. Her arms lay limp beside her. Yet when the sun fell on her face, her smile glowed brighter than the light that it was bathed in.
I'm fortunate, no, I'm very fortunate, and I need to be thankful for what I have in life. Friends, my health (even with this), my senses, friends, family, an education, the safety of a home of my own in a county second to none. If she can smile into the warmth of the sunshine, why should I ever have reason to complain?
M, in one of his patient conversations with me, counselled me that while problems are always relative, we shouldn't use that as a reason to trivialise our own. We all struggle with degrees, and one man's molehill can be another's mountain. But in truth, mine is small, and I need to remember that and live my life fully for myself, because I can...
But quickly-enough, this past weekend, reality bit. As I walked down my street, I passed a kid, not yet past his teens, pushing his mother in a wheelchair. She was in hospital garb, paralysed, a beautiful face that adored him, twisted into a stasis she may never be able to shake. Her arms lay limp beside her. Yet when the sun fell on her face, her smile glowed brighter than the light that it was bathed in.
I'm fortunate, no, I'm very fortunate, and I need to be thankful for what I have in life. Friends, my health (even with this), my senses, friends, family, an education, the safety of a home of my own in a county second to none. If she can smile into the warmth of the sunshine, why should I ever have reason to complain?
M, in one of his patient conversations with me, counselled me that while problems are always relative, we shouldn't use that as a reason to trivialise our own. We all struggle with degrees, and one man's molehill can be another's mountain. But in truth, mine is small, and I need to remember that and live my life fully for myself, because I can...
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