Inner Strength

I visited my niece this morning. Her sister-in- law was standing at the bench organising her medication — many,many tablets. I enquired how she was feeling. With a broad smile she said she was feeling great. During our conversation I asked about the brain tumour. I then learned that she has tumours in her liver and a large one on her ovary. She spoke openly about her treatment and finished by saying, ” God is so good to me.” We hear many stories of bravery and positive thinking but hearing it first hand was both heart warming and heart wrenching. Ill health is enough to tempt anyone to close the door on life. This illness must be a shoulder-stooping, sleep robbing and heart breaking time for her. But nothing is going to take away her joy. She has already made that choice. I remember a Chinese man saying that, in his language, the same word is used for problem and opportunity. For her, this lady’s illness is not a problem but an opportunity. She is already looking ahead to what she can do to help other cancer sufferers. She is a great seamstress and is already thinking fabrics and designs to create attractive heard wear and scarves. She has already committed to living ” happily ever after. “. What an inspiration! What strength! What selflessness! I left there feeling uplifted and knowing that there is always a way as an alternative to an ” I’m beaten ” attitude.

A happy person is not a person in a certain set of circumstances , but rather a person with a certain set of attitudes. ( Hugh Downs )