May 10, 2021.

Today is my birthday. I’m 42. Until recently, I would have felt like just hiding away and ignoring my birthday. I would have just gotten through the day and been thankful when it was over, trudging through my life half awake; everyday just a constant struggle against a discontent that had been growing in my heart for years. But.. 

Since my diagnosis two months ago, I realize what a special gift life is. Just how short our time is here, and all of the wonderful things and people that there are to celebrate in every single day. 

Cancer has given me new hope, and a new outlook on life. It has woken me up to the things that really matter in my life.  In an instant, immediately after hearing my diagnosis, more than half of what I used to stress and worry over is just not important at all anymore: My weight, what others thought of me, what job I had, not living up to what I perceived as society’s standards, negative drama that was none of my business: It’s just gone from my mind. Cancer narrows your perspective and gives you a very specific clarity. I’m surprised to find that I feel freed from certain things, obligations and feelings that had been weighing me down for a very long time. 

I will never again take a single day in my life for granted. I will use each day as the gift that it is; to celebrate the people I love, my family and friends, my fur angels and my community, and the beauty of the natural world that surrounds us. 

I think cancer has saved my life.