By Christy Chambers
Shannon Routh, the founder of Teal Diva, often talks about the fact that survivors/thrivers fight so hard for life. Teal Diva helps those same people LIVE life after a diagnosis.
I’m a Stage 4b metastatic cervical cancer survivor, who is currently in remission. I was composing a blog entry and wrote the phrase ‘I was given a second chance at living’. I paused and was going to correct it to “a second chance at life”. But then I thought which do I mean? Are they different?
I think they are. We have all been granted a life. It is generally determined by the length of time from life – death; your existence. But that doesn’t really give a full explanation of our time here on earth, does it? Number of years doesn’t say much about who you are/were as a person.
You see it’s all about the ‘ – ‘. What looks like a seemingly insignificant line between life and death is your legacy. I think when we are faced with the fact that we might not be here on Earth as long as we’d hoped, we begin to wonder how will we be remembered. What did I accomplish that will leave a lasting impression? Who was I? And then that leads to the big question: Who am I now?
The good news is the future isn’t written yet; you can still change your legacy.
So now that you have a little time to really live, ask yourself: Are you thriving or surviving? When we struggle in life it may seem like just coping is a victory. Survival mode is a natural default: there is a certain comfort in staying in that state because it’s familiar. But it’s not living, it’s merely existing. Thriving is facing your fears and moving past them; it’s choosing to be uncomfortable and growing from the experience. Thriving is not about the circumstances (oftentimes you can’t change those) but how you respond. A thrive mindset doesn’t happen overnight but it’s attainable.
The first step is to commit to it. It’s a choice! From there you can: get to know yourself; find things that give you joy: purge things (and sometimes people!) that don’t serve your higher purpose; etc.
Why does any of that matter?
Because if the legacy I want to leave is one of love, kindness, generosity, and joy then I must first find and cultivate those qualities in myself! Only then can I bestow them on others.
Kerri Grote, who passed from brain cancer, wrote that a shaman asked
her, “Are you running towards life or running away from death?”
It’s a big question and one we don’t normally ponder, I’d like to think that cancer shifted my perspective. Instead of being preoccupied with death, I hope I am running full tilt towards life. A life I am creating as I go, fearlessly embracing every moment and gleaning every lesson I can.
Who am I? A cervivor, thriver, and an optimist “who sees the world through the eyes of possibility.” That’s the legacy I want to leave.
Come with me – let’s live our dash!
