This simple exercise gave me a new perspective.

What did cancer take from me? Well, quite a lot. But what did it give me? Quite a lot, too. Try this exercise, and see if you can make your “gave” list longer than your “took” list.

What Cancer Took From Me:

• My self confidence, because I hate my thin hair and my scars.
• My career. I had to step down from work because of the recovery time needed for my surgery and because of the uncertainty of chemo (would I feel up to working, and would I have the time?).
• Money – lots of it!
• Peace of mind, because we can’t help but occasionally entertain doubts and fears.
• My social life when it’s important to be quarantining. During many legs of a cancer journey, we are immunocompromised and need to stay away from people.

What Cancer Gave Me:

• A louder faith. I now want to be more outward about Jesus.
• New friendships.
• Big picture perspetive. My family especially is learning not to sweat the small stuff.
• Knowledge of how I want to help others going through hard things.
• Reflection on my WHYs.
• Rekindling of old connections.
• Cool battle scars.
• A renewed faith in humanity. Complete strangers show me incredible kindness.
• New career possibilities. Opening myself up to a shift change.
• A PanCan mission to help others on this journey.
• New ways to be a helper.
• A new-and-improved version of myself.