Hi all,
The thread "who are we" led to me thinking about how I am different since a cancer diagnosis, and mentioned that cancer had changed her. So my question to anyone who wants to answer is - what have you learned?
For me, the first diagnosis in 2004 led me to decide I never wanted to work full time again if I could afford it, so I dropped to 4 days per week as soon as I could. Facing mortality does have a salutary effect on deciding what is important. Well, you'd think so wouldnt you? But I know I let some of my resolve about working less slip away over time. I still worked part time, but I know I gave too much of myself to work, which in a way was giving myself to other people, given my work was about supporting staff and people in emotional distress. The second time of diagnosis reminded me. I recognised that I had given too much of myself to the stresses of work life, and had sometimes not paid enough attention to family and to myself and what I needed. Bit bloody late, n'est pas? If I subscribed to the view the lifes sends us the lessons we need to learn, then The Universe had to shout at me to get me to listen ( and no I dont subscribe to that view, hippy dippy shit).
The good things learnt, finally - look after those close to you, look after yourself and dont care too much about the things we are taught to care about - "success", money, things. That life can still be good even having joined this group of incurables, and we live in days ( see Larkin poem of that name).
