The Power of Positive....EVERYTHING!

Today I had lunch with a friend I have known since 5th grade! Can you believe it? We have known each other for over 30 years. Like most people, we were friends through middle school, then joined different groups in high school and then lost touch after graduation. Thanks to Facebook which has made the world just about microscopic, we reconnected. Actually, he was my second FB friend. And when we get together, it is as if no time has passed at all.


There are so many things I enjoy about this person and one of them is the he is probably the most positive human being I have ever come in contact with! I would like to think I am a positive person, but let's be honest, it feels good to let yourself live in "woe is me" land for just a little bit. The problem is, I tend to get stuck there sometimes. Some people call that depression, I call it a rut. And I have been in a bit of a rut this week. We will get to that some other time...

Anyway, my friend has been diagnosed AND survived Pancreatic Cancer 3 times in the last 8 years! 3 TIMES!!! Do you know the odds of that? Let me tell you before you Google it...13% of people with pancreatic cancer survives beyond 12 months after diagnosis and only 2-3% beyond five years. He has beaten those INCREDIBLE odds 3 times. And I believe he did it because of his attitude. It is infectious. It is impossible NOT to feel good when you are around this person. He should bottle it and sell it to pay off the $300,000 in medical debt he has (gotta love the US Healthcare system...again, a topic for another time). Sadly, he was just diagnosed a 4th time. He started chemotherapy 2 weeks ago and will go through treatments for 9 more weeks before he finds out if he is in remission for a 4th time.

I am praying for my friend. I am hoping and praying that God is good to him for a 4th time...gives him a turkey if you will...All through lunch all I could think about it how grateful I am that I am just fat...that I don't have an incurable disease or one that requires them to pump poison into my veins every Tuesday and Thursday in hopes it kills everything including the cancer in my body. I can diet and exercise and be healthy...sounds much easier to me now than it did at 5:00 this morning when the alarm went off reminding me to get up and work out.

Perspective...it is sad what it takes to make you grateful for what you have isn't it?

Thank you my wonderful friend for making me take my head out of my ass to recognize my life is fucking amazing!