The take- away message

     

     It is rightly said that your loved ones form the best critics, hence my husband’s critical remarks over my blog posts do not come as a surprise. A person who insisted that I should be positive in this battle, he forced me to look beyond the sad experiences. Instead of sharing the traumatic part of this story, his suggestion was to use the opportunity and share something valuable for the world to follow. “Write about what you learned from the experience rather than what the experience felt like” were his exact words that gave way to this blog title. While trying to make sense of the entire diagnosis and treatment so far, I am excited to share my take-away message with you all. Even if it inspires a single reader or motivates someone to draw sense out of their own story, it will be worth it.

    You learn to appreciate the positive aspects of any experience only when uncertainty blinds you. This is exactly what life chose to teach me as I value every single moment with open arms today. Life does not happen when we make plans about the future and craft dreams in our minds, it happens when situations and circumstances decide to play their game in the present. That is when you learn to live to the fullest as every single moment matters. I cannot endorse living in the present for others, but I can definitely share my life changing experience that deals with one day at a time.

      As my frame of reference shifts from one day to the next, I have realized true essence of the present. No wonder I feel that the saying ‘add life to your years and not years to your life’ must have been made especially for me as there is no better expression to convey my thought. I am sure I would not have thought about this if life continued on the same track as before. Just when you start taking things for granted, this beautiful gift called life chooses to shake you with an aim to appreciate its value every single day.

   It is often believed that a life-threatening condition puts a pause button to the course of journey. But, I can definitely stand strong against every single word of this popular belief as I feel it activates the ‘ON’ button. As you realize the value of every single day, it is difficult to ignore its presence or deny its significance. I have lived more after the start of this ‘C’ episode than what I would have otherwise. It is all about pumping more life into everything.

  With this, let me share my take-away message from the experience so far. I cannot claim that my lymphoma has turned me into a philosopher, but I can definitely declare that it has given me some strength to inspire someone somewhere, one way or the other.

1.       Happiness is in the present. It is here with you right now. Happiness is not something that you should postpone for tomorrow or wait for the right opportunity. It is with you to experience it along the way.

(Happiness is reading my blog right now! Why should I lose the opportunity to promote my work and take credit? …. after all make hay while the sun shines!)

2.       Fear is nothing but product of your baseless thought process. You give birth to it without any meaning or purpose. It is created as a result of living in your thoughts or imagining about the future. If you occupy yourself with the task in hand, you will realize there is no room for this fear or worry.

3.       Do not take anything for granted. Be it relationship, work, experience, adventure, asset or your surroundings. Take a moment to appreciate what you have and express your love from time to time.

4.       Make memories, gather experiences, travel, create stories, capture moments and take photographs. Do not live like a machine or limit yourself within typical specifications of a so-called ‘ideal’ or ‘perfect’ life.

5.       Learn something new or engage yourself in some fun activities. Take risks. Do something you have never done before. There is no harm in failing or embarrassment in trying something new.

6.       Accept everything that comes your way. There is a reason why it happens. Do not waste your time in trying to figure out ‘why’ it happened. You may never reach a satisfactory answer. Instead spend time in learning from what happened. It will definitely stay with you forever.

7.        Spend some quality time with yourself. As much as you like to be with your family and friends, it is equally important to talk to yourself. Engage in some positive activities and listen to your thoughts.

8.       Learn to forgive and forget. You may disagree with your loved ones or get angry with their conduct, but their love is definitely larger than these little misunderstandings which shall melt away with time.

I agree it is easy to preach but difficult to follow. Yet, listing out this take-away message is my first step towards following it. Do share your views or add your thoughts to this list. Together we can inspire one another to spread happiness all around.