The New Year: New Perspectives For Those Living With Advanced Cancer

Speaker: Rebecca Allen, Professional Educator

Imagine a pool on a beautiful warm day.  It looks so inviting and you are eager to go in and enjoy the serenity of being in the cool water.  As you stand by the pool ready to enter, someone comes along and pushes you and you are suddenly in the water.  So what?  You were planning on going in anyway. It’s the same cool water.

There’s a difference between planning and choosing versus being pushed into a situation.  In the first instance you are in control.  You can choose the outcome at your own pace.  In the second, you are caught off-guard.  You may be disoriented or stunned.  It may take you longer to acclimate.  But somehow you do.

The purest and deepest place that you have full control over is your determination.  Determination sways your choices.  You may not be able to change your circumstances, but you can choose how you interact with each situation.  How do you interact with the world that you have no control over?  How do you live day by day with advanced cancer?

You tread water and make a plan from moment to moment, even as the circumstances change.  You set goals for yourself.  At times, you do it on your own.  At other times, you seek the assistance of others.  These connections are critical.  You can connect to yourself, to your fears, to your strengths, to your determination, and you find your way.  Or you connect to people who can help you float, carrying some of your burdens.

Rosh Hashanah offers the opportunity for honest reflection of where you stand and how you want to reinvigorate yourself.  Reinvigorate your determination, make connections with your deeper self and with people around you, and embrace your surroundings, no matter the circumstances that lead you there.

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