Reflections From a Country Girl

Someone asked me the other day how my day was going.  Their question reminded me of my friend, Chris.  His wife, Barbara, told me when he was battling cancer for a second time that he would always respond “any day I am six feet above the ground is a good day.” 

I chuckled. He always knew how to put things in perspective.  

As I thought of that this morning again, I was reminded that, indeed, that could be a true statement for all of us – regardless of the situations we find ourselves in from time to time.   I mean, after all, we have ups and downs on our path through life.  These times can consume us and make life a little uncomfortable.  

I thought to myself – how is my day going today?   I am waiting for another bone marrow biopsy, have a full blown case of leukemia, just found out I have fibroid tumors that need attention, and a few other things that will go unmentioned.  

Now I could mope and say “poor me” as I deal with this.  After all, who wants these kind of inconveniences in their lives when they still have lots of living to do?

Consider for a moment that we COULD actually consider these challenges as a gift of sorts.  

We all know we are dying in some form or fashion.  Our bodies start out like a new car – but even they eventually wear out and need to be replaced whether it’s a good ole basic Ford truck or a BMW roadster.  

Tim McGraw sings the country song “Live Like You Were Dying.”  If you haven’t heard that song, google it and read what the words are. 

It’s all too true that many of us don’t think or even want to think about death and dying. However, Tim takes it as an opportunity to live a little harder and rethink his “bucket list” of things he wants to do before he dies in that song.  

I started a list like that long ago.

I decided back then not to wait till I retired but to do as many of them as I could before I retired.  Some of the things have changes recently – no more skydiving dreams for me.  In fact, my son just did that Sunday so I will live vicariously through him on that one.  

My list is changing daily.  

One thing for sure is, that with all the stuff going on with me, it’s still just as beautiful a morning as it was when I wasn’t knowingly sick – I am just much more aware of it now than before.  

My wish for you today is that you find life’s challenges as a gift to show yourself and others that life does go on, that you have a bucket list that can change with the times, and that you can live like you were dying.  Others may be inspired by you to do the same.

~ Joellen

This entry was posted on Thursday, December 10th, 2009 at 11:59:am and is filed under Death, illness, Living Life to the Fullest, personal challenges. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.