An Open Letter to Myself (If I Could Start Life Over Again)

Brain Cancer, Life 2 Minutes

Dear Lahla,

As you start anew, these are the three life lessons I’ve selected to hold onto as the rest of your memories wash away and you begin again. Keep these, Lahla.  You’ll see…

  1. Deal with your problems right away, no matter how big or small.  They don’t go away, but pester, nag, and haunt you.  They reemerge in other places or with different characters and things, but in essence are the same.  If you’re having trouble trusting, learn to trust.  If you’re afraid to try, try anyway and see what happens.  If you keep ending up with bad partners, consider who’s choosing them and why.  Don’t run and hide, Lahla.  Deal with them.  Right away.  While they’re small.  Time makes them exponentially more complicated and difficult.  And Lahla, as you deal with the small issues, you will continue to get even more small issues, but they’ll be different.  This is a normal part of life which allows you to learn, grow, and flourish as a person.
  2. Listen to others and be true to yourself.  These sound like two different things but work best together.  Lahla, you don’t have to solve every single problem in the world.  Many wise people have come before you and learned valuable lessons and strategies in life.  Rather than learning the hard way over and over, use your two ears and listen.  The time to be in charge is when you take all of the precious information and decide what to do.  You don’t have to do anything or everything they say, but take advantage of the information they’re generous enough to share.  Ultimately you can make better, less painful decisions in life if you remain true to yourself as you consider all of the information shared with you rather than learning everything the long and hard way.
  3. Attitude is everything.  Try to look for the positive throughout your life.  You’d be surprised how many things do and don’t happen for a reason.  Disappointment and sorrow are valid, so after you give yourself some time to process these, try to look at them again with an open mind.  How can you make things good now?  Things have an upside, Lahla.  Keep your eyes open.  Look for the good- you often see exactly what you’re looking for.  You’ll be happier.

Are you ready to start again, Lahla?  Give these a go.  You’ll see…

Published by Lahla

I am a brain cancer survivor living life after emergency-mode. I’ve gone through everything you hear about, finding out you have cancer, surgery, treatment, making plans, getting help, being unconscious, and so on. I may refer back to that... Shit, it may COME back to that! But for now, I’d like to talk about life AFTER the emergency mode that brain cancer brings. I’d like to talk about normal, regular, everyday life when part of your brain is gone and the rest takes over. I’d like to talk about normal, regular, everyday life when your perspective changes. I’d like to talk about normal, regular, everyday life when others see you differently and they either get you or they don’t. I’ve spent over three and a half years holding this in, mainly because I didn’t want to be labeled as having brain cancer. Many people fail to understand what that label brings. It’s not the same as denial- think about that. However, after all this time, I realize that holding onto it feels like cancer. I didn’t chose cancer but I had chosen to hold onto what felt like cancer. Not any more. So here it goes. I hope you get something good out of it, my brain cancer freeish, everyday life perspective.

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