On a Serious Note

As I become adjusted to my new life and job, I think I am being shown each and every day why this was the path that I was meant to take. As I am coming up on what will have been one of the most difficult years of my life, my new role reminds me and makes me question, "Was it really as bad as I thought it was?" Or, had I just lost the perspective that I used to have.

When people ask me what I do...which I usually have to first provide an extensive explanation on what a child life specialist is...I usually hear the same response once I say that I work with children who have cancer and blood disorders. "Wow...how do you do that? It must be so difficult." I typically respond by saying, "You would be suprised! The kids I work with are a true inspiration and show me what it means to live life to the fullest." And as I have re-entered this world that resembles a bubble that no family wants to be surrounded by, it quickly shows me why my heart ached to slip back into that bubble.

In the last couple weeks I have been honored to meet so many children and families who are already faced with so much adversity and struggle each day for different reasons. Struggles that range from the obvious such as poverty or horrible family situations, to those that are not so obvious to the world around them. They have these struggles on a daily and ongoing basis, and then all of the sudden they have to add the heavy weight of your child, your own flesh and blood, being diagnosed with the beast we call cancer. Somehow these families find a way to do whatever is necessary to push through, to spend days/months/years in a small hospital room or coming to the clinic time after time. The most amazing thing is to watch them do it with a smile on their face and positive attitude that is filled with the will to fight. There have been countless times where families have shared with me all of the positives that they find from this nasty disease...families being brought closer together, a strengthened relationship with the Lord, or an appreciation for each second of life that we are granted. As a person on the outside of this bubble, who is able to support these children and families and learn from them, it has shown me that we shouldn't wait for something like cancer to start this change for the better. Life is too short to take a second for granted. In the last week I have met at least 5 or more families who were told the words, "It is cancer..," and I have been shown that we shouldn't wait until we here those words to learn the lessons that those in the bubble are teaching us.

So, I have been asking myself lately, "Was this year really as bad as I made myself think it was?" Or, did I just get wrapped up in the day to day activities outside of the "bubble," that caused me to lose the perspective that I once had. These thoughts are what has helped me to realize that a door opened at the right time. I was getting too comfortable and content in my day-to-day and letting myself focus on the negative and not reminding myself how much each second or day can count. Perspective can change so much!

I leave you with this...let is serve as inspiration when you feel like something is pulling you down!

Cancer is so limited...
It cannot cripple love.
It cannot shatter hope.
It cannot corrode faith.
It cannot eat away peace.
It cannot destroy confidence.
It cannot kill friendship.
It cannot shut out memories.
It cannot silence courage.
It cannot reduce eternal life.
It cannot quench the Spirit.