The Four Agreements

I recently read a clever little book called The Four Agreements by don Miguel Ruiz. It's a wonderful quick read about how you can start making choices to guide you to personal freedom. I found it wonderfully refreshing and practical for everything in life, even cancer. Here is a quick summary:

1) Be impeccable with your word

Speak with integrity. Say only what you mean. Avoid using the word to speak against yourself or to gossip about others.

2) Don't take anything personally

Nothing others do is because of you. What others say and do is a projection of their own reality, their own dream.

3) Don't make assumptions

Find the courage to ask questions and to express what you really want. Communicate with others as clearly as you you can to avoid misunderstandings, sadness, and drama.

4) Always do your best

Your best is going to change from moment to moment; it will be different when you are healthy as opposed to sick. Under any circumstance, simply do your best, and you will avoid self-judgment, self-abuse, and regret.

When you least expect it...

Sometime, when you least expect it, a friend will show up on your doorstep with a bouquet of carrots (for juicing of course!) and a pretty little envelope filled with treasures. And perhaps on that very same day, another friend will pick you up for dinner and take you to a cozy lil' restaurant to share good wine, a delicious dinner, and an incredibly nourishing heart-to-heart. The conversation will last late into the night and you will go home feeling love and inspiration and joy. It can shake off any feelings of negativity, doubt, or sadness. You might wake up anxious one day knowing that you have treatment, only to find that when you open your door, a friend has left you a copy of your very favorite magazine on the doorstep to take with you. Or maybe you get a card in the mail just to remind you how incredible you're doing and how much you're thought of and loved. Perhaps on a more emotional day, the person with you will know it and kiss you on the cheek so dearly so that you know everything is ok. Just remember to take it all in. So much love is all around you, me, always. It is to these individuals that I'd like to dedicate this post to. You guys have made all the difference in my recovery and have given me the strength to draw upon. My pillars. My Heavens. My loves. My heart thanks you.

Hazel

I met the most inspiring woman this week. Her name is Hazel. She is a beautiful, radiant, cancer survivor with a true gusto for life. She recovered from a brain cancer that had spread to her spinal cord, and is doing incredibly well. So well in fact, that she had a few things to say that made me feel so good inside, my whole week was made! Hazel mentioned that during cancer (and even after) we are not really "ourselves." Due to this fact, it is really important to be easy on ourselves. If you find yourself sleeping in til' noon (I can raise my hand here), that's perfectly ok! If your body doesn't look quite the same as before the whole cancer ordeal, just let your body be. If you're napping all the time, go ahead and embrace those naps. If you don't have the energy to talk on the phone, don't. You see, you can address all that stuff once you move past the cancer. Don't let anyone guilt you into doing things you do not want to or try and tell you that you are lazy. Impossible!! If you're fighting to live, you're fighting really hard. Really, really hard. Healing is a full time job. So just let yourself be. Now is not the time to judge or be hard on oneself. And Hazel mentioned one more thing that I thought was really important, she said "It ain't over til it's over." How true that rings. Don't ever give up or lose hope. Nothing is ever over until it really is over. So keep your chin up and fight, fight, fight!!!