Being a Human Being

Human being is more a verb than a noun. Each of us is unfinished, incomplete, a work in progress. Perhaps it would be beneficial to add the word "Yet" to our assessment of ourselves and of others. She has not learned compassion . . . yet. He knows nothing of courage . . . yet. It changes everything. If life is a process, all our judgements are provisional. We can't judge something until it's over. No one has won or lost until the race is over.

In our instinctive attachments, our fear of change, and our desire for certainty and permanence, we may undercut the impermanence which is our greatest strength, our fundamental identity, recognized or not. The nature of life is change. All hope is based on that process.

A dandelion first appears as a clump of green leaves. After a time a bright yellow flower will top a stalk rising from the center. The white puff-ball that children (of all ages) delight in blowing to the breeze is another part of the process of being a dandelion. And what of the root that continues to grow beneath the surface? It is all a part of a process, a cycle as old as time. Nothing is forever, but change.

Namaste - Stories of Cancer Survivors #3

We are, in some ways, defined as much by our potential as by the way that potential is expressed. There is a great difference between an acorn and a piece of wood exquisitely carved to look like an acorn, and the difference may not be readily apparent to the eye. But the difference is there even if the acorn has never had the opportunity to plant itself and become an oak.

Remembering its potential changes the way we think of an acorn, how we value it. The Hindu's use the greeting, "Namaste," rather than our non-committal, "Hello." A rough translation is, "Whatever your outer appearance, I see you and greet the soul in you." There is wisdom in such a way of relating to others. That wisdom may be in remembering that our perception of others is often reflected back to them in our presence and may affect them in ways we do not understand.

I am a cancer patient, and also a cancer survivor. Fourteen months now from the colon cancer. It was very simple to beat and all I need do is get follow-up exams. In the eight months since they diagnosed esophageal cancer I have experienced a genuine miracle. I'll share it someday. But that is now a non-issue. I am still in treatment for the little thing going on in my small intestines. But the docs say that I can expect to be around a long while.

In the past year I have been blessed with many new acquaintances and some genuine friendships have developed as a result of my disease. People I had grown close to have succumbed to their cancers. I have had to learn with statistical information being tossed at me as if it were gospel. Initially I was given a 16% five year survival. With a better treatment it became a five-year life expectancy of 82%, nine-year (since inception of the particular treatment used) expectancy of 78%. These are phenomenal odds! I wish lottery scratchers paid so well.

Through the process of treatment I have come to value life in a way I would not thought possible a few years ago. And I have come to value people in a new way. I long ago lost that exquisitely carved acorn that sat on my desk. I lost the desk and the job too. But today, today I stop and plant acorns when I find them. Namaste.

Unconditional Happiness; Stories of Cancer Survivors #2

Alice's cancer was a particularly aggressive type. Surgery, chemotherapy, radiation - repeated treatments over a number of years - have been required. She chronicled her troubles in a journal, recording minute details of her aches and pains. She believed she needed to be symptom-free in order to enjoy life. Accordingly, she became reclusive, venturing out on only the rarest of occasions.

On one of those infrequent sojourns, Alice found herself too exhausted to get back home without a rest stop. She chose to seek refuge from the Sacramento summer's blistering heat in a movie theater. And she thoroughly enjoyed the movie. It surprised her to realize there was no reason she could not enjoy the show if she weren't pain free. She could still be happy in the moment.

Alice no longer journals her misery. There isn't enough time in a day to waste any of it.