About a year ago I had surgery for breast cancer and this past spring enjoyed 5 months of Olympic level education from the tyrannical Mr. Chemotherapy. Fear not, I am completely well and have a good prognosis. It still seems surreal that it could happen to me but it did and I learned a lot about priorities and what is the point of my short visit on this orbiting rock we call Earth.
What WAS sooo important before my diagnosis has now been shoved to the back of the line and what moved to the front are relationships and being present. The cliché is true. The perpetual sweaty thoughts about the future or ruminating about the past fell away to reveal only today.
I decided (well…was forced) to relax and stop fighting my ego, which was very insistent and pursuing an unending search for satisfaction. I surrendered. I had to stay in my body as I went through the process of treatment since it was not moving as per the usual call to action. I came to realize that who I came in contact with and how we interacted is what really mattered. Releasing expectations gave me my today back.
“Old friends pass away, new friends appear. It is just like the days. An old day passes, a new day arrives. The important thing is to make it meaningful: a meaningful friend – or a meaningful day.” Dalai Lama
Accomplishments are wonderful and boy do I love them, but when you look back to hard won battles or when you imagine that seductive, dreamy version of the future, I challenge you to adjust your perspective a bit. Please go ahead and enjoy all human made manifestations such as gathering money, working, fighting, sex, creating or becoming powerful but as you do, consider how it satisfies the deepest parts of you? How does it affect your presence in the world, really? Please understand I am not against doing those things, I simply suggest that if you stay in the present, physically in your body, not in the mind, you will be able to decipher what aligns with your true self. Just by stopping your thoughts, bringing attention to your body for a few minutes as you move through your day is all it takes. And then you may not need your own "come to Jesus" moment that I did. You will be in tune with your higher self.
I believe engaging with other people, by sharing my true unedited self, scary as it is, is vital to attracting those things that support me. I am choosing to reveal these things to you today dear reader because I believe it is so important. Whether the relationship is about loving, teaching, having fun, understanding, supporting, pushing or even disagreeing with another, our connection is the valuable "thing". You know the "I AM" that Christ embodied? It transcends us and time, that was always an ideal but now it's been brought front and center.
The reason I share all this is I know many women and men have had cancer or other life threatening illnesses that have changed their perspectives permanently. I would not wish cancer on anyone, but it has been a huge blessing (another cliché), which has changed me forever. I hope this perspective can help others imagine some potential positive consequences that can bubble up out of the chaos after what seems like a dreadful period. Blessings to you.
And now, for something a bit lighter…
Next time I will discuss how your health is shown in a birth chart and what opportunities or challenges occur as planets move around it. For those who wonder how I didn't see my own health issues in my chart, I actually did notice some things and felt tension building but I did not make any changes. Lesson learned.