"Letters to Ourselves." Healthy Memories of Surviving Cancerland: If You Only Knew Then What You Know Now!

 

As I sat in my library and put the finishing touches on my book about surviving cancer by mixing conventional and intuitive healing dreams, emotions flooded my memories, and I found myself laughing through my tears.

Yes, laughing! 

I had reached the mile-marker so many dreamed of…finding  humor in crisis—a sign the storm had passed. So, I sat right down and wrote myself a letter that looked at that long and winding road named Therapy to Survivor from the eyes of a Thriver. 

Dear Cancer Survivor,

We’ve come a long way Baby! Do you remember the “dead sound” on the phone when we told family and friends we had the “C” word? Or how we listened with bated breath as professionals split hairs (when we had so few or none at all) over the definition of Survivor  and Thriver. 

Was it after six months of treatment, the five-year-mark, or the ten-year-threshold?

  

And, remember how we wondered if we’d ever be cured or always In Remission? 

Professors Death and Crisis at the School of Hard Knocks taught us the answer is all and none of the above because, as a three time cancer survivor, our survival began the day we were diagnosed and thriving began a nanosecond later.  We focused on surviving despite feeling like we’d lost our minds to chemo-brain. Yeah, we had big laughs about that, like putting Windex in the refrigerator and the cream under the sink. 

Looking back, those ten years felt like a life-time ago and yesterday, all wrapped up in pretty pink ribbon.... that was scary as hell! Yet, we did it! And then became Thrivers who help others in crisis. 

         

 Thriving was our dream. 

   

Thank God we listen to our dreams! 

Join me for part 2 of this letter when Younger-Self is given guidance.

Bio:Kathleen O’Keefe-Kanavos, author, Intuitive Life Coach, survived three breast cancers found  by her dreams, wrote SURVIVING CANCERLAND: Intuitive Aspects of Healing (Cypress House, Jan 2014) http://tinyurl.com/p7cjfxa   websites: Surviving Cancerland http://www.survivingcancerland.com/   & AccessYourInnerGuide, Hosts Living Well Talk Radio, Om Times Magazine contributor, Cancer Q&A columnist CapeWomenOnlineMagazine, Dream Queen columnist- Wellness Woman 40 & Beyond, BreastCancerYoga, http://www.yourdreaminterpretation.com/about-us/,WakeUpWomen; R.A. BLOCH Cancer Foundation Hotline Counselor. Represented by Steve Allen Media