Pink Post ~ Choose Hope

Once you choose hope, anything’s possible. ~ Christopher Reeve

You make hundreds of thousands of decisions everyday!  You choose your meals, your clothing, the time you wake up and the time you go to bed at night.  You decide how you are going to spend your time, move your body and what you are going to say ~ or not say.

You hold the power to choose ~ and they are your choices to make!

For me, when I was diagnosed with breast cancer,  I was devastated as I’m sure most people are when they are faced with a traumatic event.  It matters not what the trauma is whether it be illness, death, tragedy ~ the devastation is there as it is a change which challenges every fiber of our being.

But what you do with the trauma, how you deal with it, is your choice and nobody else’s.

For some, the above hurts because we want someone else to take the reins while we wallow in the negativity ~ the sadness, the self-pity, the victim mentality.  We want to blame someone else for the situation whether it is another’s fault or not.  We want to escape from the new reality and run away from the news.  We’d rather hide and just be left alone.  We want life as it was before we heard the news.  We don’t want to accept this new chapter nor the change in our lives.  We long for the moments before we heard or read or knew or experienced  the trauma.  We want to buck the system, retreat and change it.  We don’t want to accept the news.  We fight the change.  We simmer in our sadness.  We don’t want to go with the flow, we want to be left alone.

But, after our initial response, we have to make a decision that will change the way things work for us.  And it is our choice to make.

For me, choosing hope was easier as I’m a glass 1/2 full type of gal as I’ve mentioned before ~ but not everyone feels that way and I understand.  For those who see that glass as 1/2 empty, my heart goes out to you as this is a burden.  It’s a habit, it’s a comfortable way you’ve been living that needs to change for anything is possible.  I realize that when it’s the trauma of a death of a loved one, there is no hope for change ~ at least not that we can bring back our loved one.  I know, I’ve been there before.

But having said that, I’ve learned that once we can turn to acceptance of the new normal, of the heart-wrenching loss, we can begin to move on and find hope.  For me, my Dad’s death impacted my life in a very traumatic way ~ but now 9 months later, I am learning to go with the flow ~ to accept this new normal with all of its additional responsibilities.  I’m learning to forgive, to let go and to allow the healing that time spreads like a balm on the soul.

I love this quote from Christopher Reeve and I imagine in my heart and mind the gut wrenching challenges he endured as he tried to heal his broken body.  He shone like a lighthouse ~ he continued to hope for a cure, for a change, for a medical breakthrough, not just for himself but for all who were paralyzed.  He held onto that hope of possibility with Superman strength and continued to light the way for others ~ using himself as an example.

I know that for me, I asked the question, “Why me?” to the Heavens.  Why me?  Why not me?  I still don’t know the answer to that question, but I believe my life experiences have given me a gift ~ to choose hope, to be a friend to others, to understand and to empathize because of my experiences.  It hasn’t been easy and it’s been a long time coming this peace within that I’ve been creating.  In my heart, I wish I’d never had cancer or endured so much sadness in my life, but I hold the hope that if my story, my experiences, my life can help another person, well, then it’s not been a life in vain for it has helped others.

It’s a process, this healing, no matter what tragedy you are dealing with, but I know for sure that when you hold hope in your heart, the possibilities are endless.  That’s what I wish for you today and everyday ~

I wish you HOPE!

Choose Hope…Anything is possible.

Shine On!

xo