She just filed divorce and had an appointment to see her attorney…

Your spiritual awareness and close relationships may not ward off the chemo and radiation; however, they may support you as you uncover your strength…

She felt a knot in her breast that morning, but had little time to worry about it because she just filed divorce and had an appointment to see her attorney. Eventually, she made an appointment to see her doctor and was hit with the news of another life change entering her world. Breast cancer.

Another woman fell off a ladder before she felt her lump, and put off seeing a doctor for a little bit of time because we women tend to just keep going and going and going with our full lives until something in our gut, and in our chest, whispers to us we must get this checked.

Another woman, a registered mammographer, was ultra-aware of the benefits of early detection because of her occupation as well as the knowledge that two generations of women in her family are breast cancer survivors. Because of her own early detection she joined them as the third-generation breast cancer survivor.

Cancer, it seems is indiscriminate about who’s home it will visit; who’s life it will disrupt. When you have cancer in your family history, you stay aware of the possibility that the same genetics which give you your eye color, height, dimples, and freckles may also give you an increased risk for certain illnesses…including cancer.

Yet, as they say, your genes are not your destiny.

Your lifestyle and eating habits may not deter breast cancer; however, they may improve how you respond to any unwanted medical diagnosis. Your spiritual awareness and close relationships may not ward off the chemo and radiation; however, they may support you as you uncover your strength, perseverance, and accept grace during those times when you feel as if you cannot go on another day…and then you do.

I know people who have put on their battle gear and won their fight with cancer; and I know those who received their healing only when they reached the arms of God. Some live long lives; others live full lives that end too soon.

Do you know someone like that?

Do you feel admiration and inspiration when you see someone face what appears to be an insurmountable challenge, and give more and do more and achieve more than even they ever believed was possible? All with a smile, a peace, an inner strength, and a joy…even amidst the foreign tubes and needles and pills and crash-course in new medical jargon?

I do.

Their stories remind me to be grateful for what I have – health, family, love. Their stories inspire me to strive for what I want to achieve, to forgive when it’s not expected, requested, or deserved, to be joyful in a world focused on strife, and to never take for granted the time I’m given while I walk this earth.

And, their stories remind me that October is Breast Cancer Awareness month: If you’re a woman, and it’s time for you to get a mammogram, please make your appointment today.

 

Source: http://www.macon.com/living/article176425616.html