Some time ago I found a little lump in my breast. After a week it was gone and I paid it no more attention.
It reappeared recently and this time got me worried of course.
Husband, in typical male, drama-deprived reaction said: ‘Well go see the doctor.”
Before I did that though, here’s how that little lump got my imagination going (a pre-requisite for creativity, may I remind you…):
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Learn something about a new topic.
My first thought of course was: breast cancer.
Ouch. But what exactly is it? I did some research and hence learned quite a bit about a topic I knew not much about. I thought this information was funny:
Women are 100 times more likely to get breast cancer than men.
Duh!!!!! -
Invent great stories.
Just the idea of point 1, made me very imaginative on possible outcomes. I could have written a great horror or drama scenario using all the nightmare images that come up. Maybe I will. -
Open your eyes.
So, imagining yourself in the worst situations can be quite an eye-opener. Made me think of: ‘Don’t judge a man until you have walked two moons in his moccasins’. Which is something we should do on a regular basis. It would make the world a better place. It’s of course nicer to imagine yourself to be ‘Super-Woman’ instead of ‘Bald, vomiting, cancer person.’ But hey, give it a try. -
Put things in perspective.
Cancer makes everyone think of death. Of only having a short time left to live. And what one would do if that happened. And so the slow driver in front of you, a rough word from a colleague or the bad weather all of a sudden seem trivial and laughable. And we need to do that from time to time. -
Face your fears.
So WHAT IF it were cancer? What would that change? What would you do differently? Why? And why are you not doing those things now?
Definitely made me spend more time with my family, hug them more, do little things for them. And makes you ask the question: why does it take such a life altering thing (or the possibility thereof) to make you want to do this? -
Live your bucket list (list of things to do before you die).
I have a bucket list that dates from 2008. I have done quite a few of them already
None of the big adventureous ones yet.
One thing on my list is to sort of ‘live happily ever after and see my sons grow up to be handsome, loving, decent men’. I guess that lead me to the next point.
Here are 1250 ideas for your bucket list. -
Face your sadness, accept your anger.
There definitely will be lots of things you could not do anymore if you’re sick,…or dead. That sucks. it makes you very, very sad. And angry. Sad is good. Anger is good. It’s necessary. Many great songs were written in very sad and angry times… It also makes you want to reach out for the help that you will need (whether you’re sick or not, you need help when you’re sad and also when you’re angry – someone has to calm you down when you want to kill someone…). -
Be positive.
Yes, despite of it all, positivity should be king. I would not want to sit at home and cry all the time (maybe just for the first week or two). Laughter does good even before it happens.
Norman Cousin’s seminal book ”Anatomy of an Illness” details his healing journey overcoming ankylosing spondylitis (a degenerative disease causing the breakdown of collagen). Given up to die within a few months in 1965, almost completely paralyzed, Cousins checked out of the hospital, moved into a hotel room and began taking extremely high doses of vitamin C while exposing himself to a continuous stream of humorous films and similar ”laughing matter”. His condition steadily improved and Cousins regained the use of his limbs until he was able to return to his full-time job at the Saturday Review.
Or check out Kris Carr’s film Crazy Sexy Cancer.And because health and Humor should go hand in hand, visit The Humor Collection.
And for those of you who are now picking up the phone to call me to offer friendly support so I don’t go kill someone, rest assured! The doctor checked it from all sides, did an echo and concluded that it’s just a lump of grease. Hah! Who’d have thought that!
All that commotion for nothing…well not really. Got another post and some creative reflection going didn’t it?