5 Ways To Stay Positive Through Cancer:

Having cancer is not normal but how are some ways to live a normal life and remain hope filled? I’m not a big fan of people saying silly things like “Don’t get your hopes up” or “You can’t do that” when you somehow find a CAN in CANcer. 
 
This week as I watched one of my friends playing football for Lavington Panthers against Wangaratta Rovers, I noticed a guy with a serious disability playing first grade Australian Rules. He was missing one arm. He is a guy that refused to listen to people saying “you can’t because”… and nor should you listen to people who say that “you can’t because.
 
Here are 5 ways to Keep Positive through Cancer.

1. Stop Blaming You:  It’s not his fault if he was born with only one arm and it’s not your fault that you now have cancer. Maybe you maintained a bad diet, maybe you were a heavy chain smoker, maybe you were an alcoholic, maybe you were exposed to dangerous chemicals, maybe maybe maybe maybe maybe. This is what you know now - you have cancer, you can’t change it,  blaming yourself for past actions does not help you heal or keep positive. The blame game is not going to be good for you and neither is living in denial.  Accept your situation.

 
2.    Stop Blaming Others: Others may no longer treat you the same way before you had            cancer. They may act insensitive. They are afraid that you might die, afraid they might not say the right things, afraid to offend you, afraid for you, that sometimes they will often not say the right things and will offend you. This is their own journey that they need to take but it’s best not to blame them for their feelings and tough times too. 

3. Do What You Can Do: Its very important to make life as normal as possible. You’ve made massive changes, massive readjustments. Some things you use to do easy - as easy as breathing -  that you can’t do anymore. What you can do in CANcer is do the things you still can do. Write a list such as playing cards with friend, going to the movies, attending a class that you would normally attend. This all helps with just remembering that you are a normal person. 

4. Do Something You Love: Since being diagnosed with cancer you may find you have a lot of free time on your hands. What do you love doing? For some that could be walking, for others it could be movies, puzzles, games etc. What helped me while I was in hospital or at home recovering was my love of building things. I used to get a lot of people buying me Lego & Nano Blocks and sometimes it was a challenge but easy enough if you followed the instructions… which maybe I didn’t do so well! 

5. Learn A New skill: Simply learn a skill.  Of course, start at home by yourself through the magic of YouTube, or try courses for something you always wanted to learn like a language, a craft, a project etc. For me I learnt magic tricks off YouTube and I also enrolled myself as a full time student last year doing a certificate IV in Ministry & Leadership. When I first started chemo it was challenging but it gave me plenty of time to do my readings and attend online classes even at the hospital.